I almost killed Santa Claus last night while building the Star Wars X-Fighter Lego set that Krissy received from her Santa this Christmas. While I was busy putting together the pieces, I didn't know that Krissy was already scrutinizing the toy's packaging and its wrapper.
My heart froze when Krissy blurted, "Alam ko na! Sa Shoppersville bi-nuy (binili) ni Santa yung gift!" She rushed to my desk, opened my laptop, and Googled Shoppersville. The search results revealed the location of Shoppersville in no less than Quezon City. Krissy was disappointed that it wasn't in the North Pole, notwithstanding that her latest lead to Santa's identity revealed that toys were apparently not made by the elves in Santa's toy factory but merely bought from a supermarket. I tried to rationalize that it must be the most practical thing to do for someone who had to distribute gifts to millions of children all over the world.
Not satisfied by my decoys, however, Krissy borrowed my cellphone and Googled "who is the owner of Shoppersville," which then led her to the names of the store's executives. She asked if it follows that the president is also the owner; I said no and cited several companies with such set up. On this response, Krissy asked me to inquire from the president who his boss is and ran another Google search. This time, she typed, "Is santa claus the owner of Shoppersville?"
Oh the results were awesome, beginning with "Did you know that Santa Claus lives in Antipolo," which Krissy read as Anti-POLE-oh. Perhaps this place was the closest to North POLE in her head but I told her it was just a few minutes' drive from Quezon City with Ateneo as the point of reference. At this point and until now, she remains unaware of Shoppersville even if we have been there several times when she was younger.
And interestingly, a link to a column written by Jim Paredes in 2006 - I remember reading this - where this particular phrase appeared "that Santa must have gotten the gift she received one Christmas at Shoppersville." Krissy surmised that she was not alone.
It is a good thing that I was able to grab the phone from her and divert her attention elsewhere, albeit temporarily. I was not yet ready to break her innocence and kill Santa. I used to think it was easy but it just isn't.
Reading Jim's column again somehow helps me build the courage to allow my child to experience her first "betrayal" and hopefully, it will prepare me to transform this event into a meaningful one.
"Killing the Buddha" in Humming in My Universe by Jim Paredes as posted in The Philippine Star on December 17, 2006. URL: http://www.philstar.com/sunday-life/375439/killing-buddha.
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