mea culpa

This lovable, adorable little five-year-old was a charming, mischievous, precocious, enthusiastic, compassionate, witty, and energetic child. I was chosen to be his mother, and although not faultless, I tried to do an honorable job.

Sadly, it has recently been made abundantly clear (refer to comment #2, Jan 14th post) that Mark and I are responsible for the adverse effect our parental deceptions had upon the formative years of Andrew’s childhood. In response, I offer the subsequent clarification…

Andrew was raised in a Christian home and was taught of the miraculous birth of our Lord and Saviour, and how God loved us so deeply that He sent the baby Jesus. We read him Bible stories about the manger, the shepherds, the star, and the wise men. He learned the true meaning of Christmas – that it was the birthday celebration of the Christ child.

We also participated in the tradition of the obliviously fraudulent little guy dressed in red, who, on the night before Christmas, traveled the world in a reindeer-led sleigh to leave presents under Christmas trees and fill stockings with goodies. This was part of the make-believe magic of childhood, akin to imaginary fairy tales, tooth fairies, Easter bunnies, cupids, leprechauns, etc. We continued in the pretense of these mendacious customs until Andrew naturally grew out of them.

Consequently, Andrew has an apparent resentment and hurtfulness towards me for taking part in the prevalent Christmas tradition of Santa. “Andrew, I ask you, in this very public audience, for my earnest forgiveness. I deeply regret the disappointment and disenchantment we caused you. I yearn for the day in which you can overcome the traumatizing and deceitful practices we forced upon your childhood. Oh, and no hard feelings...”