I honestly don’t know. If he isn’t, will the tooth fairy still bring money for fallen teeth or will the Easter bunny bring a basket full of toys? These are the characters that we impress upon our children. Santa is a fictional character. But, much like our children’s favorite TV cartoons, many kids are inspired to believe that Santa is much more.
And, instead of their influence being media driven, we their parents present Santa as a real person. He has a wife, a home, and a job. How do you handle the questions and/or disappointment when that one kid tells your kid that Santa isn’t real?
I don’t see anything wrong with families that embrace the idea of Santa. In a way, it is a tradition that it seems like most of the society that I live in celebrates. And actually, it is more like a culture shared among diverse populations all over the world. It is really funny to watch children try really hard for one month to be on their best behavior in hopes that Santa Claus really does come to town. But, will deception help our children?
Maybe…
I mean, they learn to use their imagination to process the concept of Santa. They also learn to be creative through baking sweets and leaving milk (or, wine.. if I am Santa). For real, remind your kids about what Santa really wants on the night of delivery. But the idea is that they learn how transactions work. If you behave this way, you will receive XYZ and if you don’t then you will receive nothing. Then on Christmas day, they are relieved to know that their behavior was enough to get what they worked so hard for.
It gives them confidence, when other children doubt the idea that Santa is real. They will more than likely be defensive and willing to stand up for someone that they truly believe in. But, then that leads to curiosity. So, they will seek answers to figure out whether Santa is real or not. And then finally, your child will either experience acceptance, disappointment, denial or all three.
So, hopefully by now you understand that I am supportive of families who introduce Santa into their Christmas traditions. However, my husband and I have talked about how we will not impress Santa on our children.
So, what will we do?
Well honestly, before writing this post my husband and I really did not like the idea of Santa. We agreed that when baby Z was old enough to comprehend the idea of Santa, we would tell her that Santa is a nice guy that brings toys and gifts to children in need. But, the whole point of not telling her about Santa was so that she would not be deceived by us. However, by lying in this way, we will then again be guilty of deceiving her. We thought that story would be a good one. And, hopefully would prevent her from ruining Santa for other kids.
But could you imagine? Our little extrovert hearing from one of her friends that Santa visited her. I can only shake my head at how that conversation might take place. For example, I could totally see her saying “my momma said…”
The truth is, is that Santa is a fun character. Just like Minnie, Doc McStuffins, the Tooth Fairy, Moana and all of our children’s other favorites. Sure, I may have believed my favorite childhood cartoons were real when I was a kid. But, eventually I grew up and would start to understand that they were not. I don’t think it had negative effects on me. In fact, many of those movies and shows are still my favorites.
So, while I don’t think we will boast the idea of Santa (not right now, anyways). I do think that if baby Z decides that Santa is the coolest guy at Christmas time, we will support her imagination.
Is Santa Claus really coming to your house? Let us know in the comments why or why not.
As a child I wasn’t raised believing in Santa and people wonder how I enjoyed Christmas as a kid. I think I had an even better experience because it wasn’t fraught with worry about being good enough and I could completely concentrate on the real meaning of Christmas.
My husband and I did with our kids like you describe with Baby Z; we didn’t “push” Santa but didn’t discourage them if they wanted to get in on the Santa fun.
No Santa this year. I wish that in the future Christmas to a be better time.
I hear a lot of parents struggling with this. They feel like they are lying to their children. When my children were old enough to start asking me if Santa was real I told them to think of Santa as more of a spirit (or angel) then a real person. Santa brings the spirit of giving and love to people during the Christmas season. He inspires us to open our hearts to those in need. Every time you hear a stranger wish you “Merry Christmas” or see the joy on others faces, every story of someone paying off the layaway bills for strangers, or giving gifts to families that could not afford to buy presents, that is Santa. So yes, I told them, I think Santa is real.
Our kids know about Santa but mostly because of school and other kids. We make one small toy be from Santa and others from us. It’s hard trying to figure out if lying to your children is the right thing when it comes to this. I’m on the edge about it and we never threaten if your bad Santa won’t come because kids should be good all year and not just for the month around Christmas.