Remember when you were five years old, and you could hardly sleep on Christmas Eve for straining your ears to hear the tinkle of jingle bells or the light tap of reindeer hooves on the roof? Do you remember the joy of believing in the magic of Santa Claus?
On the flipside, I’m sure you also recall the moment you discovered the lie. Perhaps an older kid told you on the playground. Perhaps it was an older sibling. Perhaps, as in the unfortunate case of a few of my friends, your parents told you outright. No matter how it came about, it was painful.
All this begs the question: Should parents lie to their children and make them believe there is a jolly old man that sneaks into their homes on Christmas Eve and leaves them presents? Is it worth the trauma children experience when they discover the truth?
While I do think children need to learn the truth themselves, I wholeheartedly believe that Santa Claus is an integral part of childhood, and one that should not be discounted just because growing up breaks the spell.
While the argument could be made that this lie undermines the idea of honesty, I have found that kids my age have no qualms about playing Santa Claus to their own children someday. What people remember most is how magical Christmas was with Santa.
Encouraging children to imagine something greater, more magical, more powerful, than themselves is healthy and necessary to their ability to believe in causes and ideas beyond themselves later in life. After all, life is meaningless if you go through it without believing in something.
Believing in Santa awakens the Christmas spirit in the hearts of children around the world and discourages them from becoming Ebenezer Scrooges. It gives kids something in which to have faith.
It is far better to have kids go through the trauma of discovering Santa is a farce than to go their whole lives not knowing what this spirit of peace and goodwill is all about.
DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any psychological trauma caused to Santa believers by this article. This was a joke. Santa is real kids!
