Joe Nichols’ Mom Made Him a ‘Believer’ in Santa

We all know the Dr. Seuss story, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas.' The Grinch, who lived high on a mountain north of Whoville, took it upon his greedy green self to descend upon the town, burglarizing it to deprive the Whos of their gifts and decorations.

And in real life, many of us remember a time when someone tried to steal our childhood by telling us there simply wasn't a Santa Claus. They were not necessarily cave-dwelling creatures with a heart two sizes too small, but we likely experienced that heart-breaking revelation at one time or another.

Joe Nichols still remembers those dreaded words. "I was probably nine or ten the first time I heard there was no Santa Claus," the singer tells The Boot. "It might have been from one of my older brother's friends -- the kind of kids that I would never let my 11-year-old daughter hang around with now ... the chewing tobacco at age 11, one of those guys. I was pretty torn up about it."

Joe says, however, that his mom tried hard to make sure her kids believed in Santa Claus. "And it worked, because we were totally hooked. My mom, one year went so far as to take my dad's work boots and dip them in flour -- put the bottoms of them in flour. We had this dark brown carpet in the living room, and she made these footprints to the [Christmas] tree in this flour. We woke up, and went: 'Oh my gosh! Santa's footprints! Amazing!' We were kind of slow kids because we never did catch on that the snow on the bottoms of the shoes never melted! It was cool. My mom really tried hard."

Earlier this year, Joe released a song and video about other kinds of 'Believers.' The tune is featured on 'Old Things New,' one of The Boot's Top Country Albums of 2009.