When my first child was born, I was of the opinion that children shouldn't be led to believe in Santa. My position was that it does more damage than good to encourage belief that Santa really is real. I thought it was fine to pass along the story as a story, and include whatever real history may be relevant regarding a good man who had done many good deeds for many young children around Christmas time a long time ago.
Maybe I am a lazy pushover, but instead of being purposeful in my handling of the Santa story with the children, I have allowed them to imbibe the cultural kool-aid without any nay-saying. We watch shows and movies about Santa; the children have their photo with Santa; and all of this has led to us of course talking about Santa, and yes, I've played along.
I suppose I'm delaying the difficult day when we have to wrestle with the truth in my house. But I'm okay with that. I'm hopeful that by the time each of the children has to deal with the bad news, they will be equipped generally to process the news and reflect back on happy memories while happily embracing reality.
Meanwhile, I stumbled across this article today and had a nice chuckle. The writer lays out the means by which belief in Santa can be salvaged and Santaism can be preserved:
3 comments:
If it makes you feel better, some of my fondest childhood memories involve my belief in Santa Claus and I wasn't the least the bit traumatized when I realized that Santa the person wasn't exactly who I thought he was.
I was definitely a believer in Santa as a child, and I don't recall any serious trauma upon discovering the truth. But of course, I was immediately "allowed in to the other side" to keep my discovery a secret from younger siblings and even to help the overall cause. Having a new purpose and of course, special knowledge, maybe helped cope.
I suppose it matters how the parents handle those kind of moments.
Finally read the link. Love it
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