Are We There Yet?: A Weekend With the Claus Family

This weekend belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

 

On Saturday, you can hike with Santa. And on Sunday, you can have lunch with both of them and then decorate a cookie with Mrs. Claus.

 

I'm especially intrigued by the hike with Santa, who is not someone normally associated with physical activity - a belly like the bowl full of jelly and all that. I do applaud the creativity of the Trustees of Reservations, which are hosting the event on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 10 a.m. to noon at Bartholomew's Cobble in Sheffield. Kids will enjoy a half-mile hike with Santa, learning about nature and the wonders of winter. It's free for adults, and kids pay $15 - and get a present, too! Find more information at thetrustees.org.

 

Then on Sunday, Dec. 15, are two events more typically associated with the Clauses, as the involve food.

 

First up in Lenox at noon, the Lenox Community Center will host lunch and a craft with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, who also will be available for pictures. The best thing about this event is that it's free; for details visit townoflenox.com. Then moving north, Mrs. Claus will host an afternoon for kids 12 and younger to visit her from 1 to 3 p.m. and enjoy hot cocoa and decorate a cookie to take home. This event is being hosted by Williamstown Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Adams Road in Williamstown; reservations are requested at 413-458-3111.

Speaking of kids 12 and younger: For those of you who are parents of kids in fall in the older half of that age range, you likely are facing the "Is Santa real?" questions at this time of year. My daughter just turned 8 this week, and her doubt came more when she was 6 or 7. This year, she either has made a conscious decision to believe or has decided she doesn't want to know. But she paid especially close attention to the television screening of "Yes, Virginia," an animated re-telling of the story behind the famous "Yes, Virginia" editorial in the New York Sun in 1897. In this CBS special, 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon loves Christmas until her friends start telling her there is no Santa. Unable to find the answers she's looking for, Virginia writes to The New York Sun newspaper, and the answer becomes the most famous newspaper editorial of all time. It is cute and sweet and focuses more on the "idea" of Santa more than Santa himself: helping others, loving your family, etc. That resonated with me because I don't want to lie to my daughter; we tell her it's about believing in magic and love, and that's the message in this special.

 

If you missed it on TV, you can get it on iTunes for only $2.99. It's worth the three bucks!

 

Berkshire County native Rebecca Dravis of Williamstown is a former journalist who now works for the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts. She can be reached at rdravis@verizon.net.