Kid Has Santa-Related Questions

In case you were wondering, Kina woke up at the normal human hour of 6:25 this morning and hauled us out to the living room to gaze upon Santa’s bounty. She got a Baby Rainbow Cat and a silk cape. Mommy got some custom emojis and I got a pile of nice calligraphy pens, which I put to work on today’s issue. Kina had lots of questions about Santa—a public figure we have almost never mentioned in this house, and whose role in Christmas we have been ambivalent about discussing. We decided in the moment to roll with it, because you only get to believe in things until you don’t.

Today was an unexpectedly beautiful day. It was one of those days, as a parent, when you feel the outlines of your family being etched more deeply. We are good here, the three of us. At the same time, I finally understand my own parents better, and how much it must have meant for them to celebrate Christmas with us kids when we were all living out in middle of nowhere, far from my grandparents. Today felt like new rituals for us, hopeful and small. It was one of the best days of this entire year, and probably the best Christmas of my life. I cannot express how lucky we feel to be Kina’s parents, or how utterly, blissfully exhausted we are right now.

We will be together again.

dad