Mrs. Claus- The Holidays' Most Underrecognized Super Woman

It's November.

And Zulily, one of my favorite online retailers whom I write for, just did an article about how women run the holidays in most households around the country. Check it out here: Zulily's article, Dear Mrs. Claus

This article got me thinking. In my house, November means that I'm starting to make my holiday shopping lists and check them twice (hats off to all you mega-planners out there who are already done shopping. I salute you!). I'm checking to see what toys are hot this season and where to find them at the lowest prices. I'm making menus for holiday meals I'll serve my family or dishes I'll bring to any meals we may share with extended family. I'm checking the budget. I'm figuring out how to rearrange furniture to accommodate a tree (or two, or three!) and wondering what pieces I'll need to purchase this season to round out my festive trimmings. As I type, I'm also messaging with several photographers, trying to line up holiday photos and then slap my favorites onto a holiday card I'll mail to friends and family near and far. 

                  

Truly, I'm doing it all. The holidays. As the mom, the matriarch of my family of five, the holidays, and all their tedium and wonder, are my responsibility to plan and execute. 

Don't get me wrong- I have a wonderful, loving, supporting husband who works hard to provide for my family! He truly is outstanding. 

But I don't think I'm alone in feeling that women are the brains behind the operation that is the holiday season.

So why does Santa, the jolly man in red, get so much recognition each holiday season? I think it's safe to assume that Mrs. Claus is a huge part of the holiday operations at the North Pole as much as every mama out there like me is the heart and soul of her family's holidays. Why, then, doesn't Mrs. Claus get any credit?

Did you know that the first mention of Mrs. Claus is in 1849, in a short story called "A Christmas Legend," by missionary James Rees? Santa Claus himself was made popular in American Culture in the later half of the 18th Century. So, Mrs. Claus didn't come onto the scene for more than 50 years after her jolly husband became the figurehead of the holidays in America. 

I suppose, given the time that Santa rose to popularity, the fact that Santa, a man, was the person to thank for holiday cheer isn't entirely unexpected. But come on. It's 2020. We know that women run the homestead and the holidays. We know that women are a truly vital part of holiday festivities, from trimming the tree to wrapping the presents. We know that the holiday season wouldn't go off so seamlessly in most American households if supermoms didn't undertake the task of making everything merry and bright.

So its time to recognize Mrs. Claus as the woman behind the legend. It's time to recognize her as the superwoman she is. It's time to say thank you to Mrs. Claus. For standing by and supporting her husband and helping him be the face of the holidays. It's time to recognize and appreciate that Mrs. Claus, like me and every other superwoman and supermama out there, is a vital part of the holiday season.

Mrs. Claus- thank you. Thank you for being a vital part- even if you are often overlooked!- of the Santa and Mrs. Claus duo that makes the holidays full of festive cheer. 

Zulily even started a Change.org petition to get Mrs. Claus more recognized this time of year. Check it out here: Let's give Mrs. Claus the thanks she deserves