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Los Angeles, CA -- Move over parents, the
kids have crashed the party. For those who
thought they could be territorial with the
sneaking and the planning and the surprise,
or thought they owned exclusive rights to
the joy that follows their performance as
Santa, their days are numbered.
The evidence can be found on a new YouTube music video, "I’m
Being Santa." It begins with
a pay-it-forward-themed story inspired
by a “From Santa” gift tag.
The mayhem that follows is a dancy,
jumpy, joyous montage of children claiming
their newest role—actually playing
Santa themselves.
Playing only the role of
“the kid with the list”
is limiting; kids who focus solely on
playing that role can be both adorable
in their eagerness and appalling in
their greed. With the character of Santa
as a “role model,” the song’s
lyrics explain his joyful nature as
the ideal attractor: “When I give
in secret so no one else will know,
it feels so very good, I have to go
ho-ho-ho.”
Don't
tell. It's a secret. The song, "I'm
Being Santa" by Arita Trahan and
Mark Horwitz is featured on music video.
Arita Trahan wrote the lyrics to "I’m
Being Santa" after penning her first
book, "The Santa Story Revisited: How
to Give Your Children a Santa They Will Never
Outgrow." She confessed to have gotten
the idea for the “expanded” Santa
that she promotes in her book from her own
child 30 years ago.
After telling her three-year-old daughter
the Santa story for the first time, Trahan
later found an oddly wrapped package on the
kitchen table. Puzzled, she asked, “What’s
this?” Her daughter answered, “It’s
for you, Mommy. It’s from Santa.”
Trahan was touched and claimed an epiphany
in that moment. When she mused, “Who
could love me so much to give me a present
this way?” her daughter pressed her
lips together, steadfastly holding the secret,
delight emanating from her.
Trahan explains, “Later I realized
that I had forgotten to define which role
in the Santa story was hers to play—so
she chose for herself. Since my children grew
up playing Santa from both sides of the mystery,
they never experienced any disappointment
as they grew older. Our Santa stories just
kept getting better and better.”
Trahan’s approach to the Santa celebration
remained a family secret until earlier this
year when she was talking a friend through
a typical “How do I keep the secret
one more year?” dilemma. Having stood
the test of time, she realized the season
for a new Santa story had arrived and that
other parents would be empowered and encouraged
by it. Her book, "The Santa Story Revisited,"
was birthed.
The song, "I’m Being Santa,"
followed, with lyrics by Trahan and music
by her husband, Mark Horwitz. A musician and
speech pathologist who works with young children
at Every Child Achieves in Los Angeles, Horwitz
says, “I love the fact that Arita’s
book and song make the whole Santa experience
even more fun for children. Every child loves
to be sneaky, to surprise someone and then
see that happy reaction. Peek-a-boo is the
first game they learn to play! Yet, we expect
our children to wait until they become parents
themselves to play Santa. A bit selfish of
us, wouldn’t you say?”
Friend and fan of the new Santa idea, Sean
Humphries offered to direct and edit the music
video. Then musician friends from Nashville
and the Agape International Children’s
Choir in Culver City, California all jumped
into the act.
Humphries attests to the new Santa magic
that he witnessed while shooting the music
video, “Those kids were unstoppable.
They were completely into the joy and the
open-heartedness of the song. They may be
better at this than we grown-ups are. We could
learn a thing or two about playing roles from
a child’s perspective. Talk about maintaining
a child’s innocence. Full-out fun—with
no deception. I’m for that!”
Now when we meet a child during the holiday
season, we might have more to say to them
than the standard inquiry, “What do
you want Santa to bring you this year?”
Instead, we might ask, “What secret
plans do you have as Santa this year?”
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