I absolutely love the Christmas Holiday. The magic always gets me. And yes, I lied to my kids and told them that Santa was totally real… Until they came to me, one by one, and made it clear that they were too old for that nonsense.
“Okay,” I would sigh, “But don’t spoil it for the little ones, alright?”
It brought tears to my eyes to hear my eldest whisper to my youngest, “Of COURSE Santa is real!” But youngest children are too wise for that, and learn early on that any information your big brother gives you is likely to be seriously flawed.
They probably kept the Santa Myth going for as long as they did just to humour their parents: Sean and I would be creeping about with heavily disguised packages; large boxes would appear on the tops of cupboards; we’d cry, “Don’t go in there! Um, Dad’s… Gluing something, and the, you know, smell… isn’t good for kids!”
The three boys would go off, sighing, “Oh, let them have their fun… They’re so sweet at Christmas time, aren’t they?” They would look on fondly as their ninja-parents walked nonchalantly by with a bicycle-shaped bin bag.
It will probably mean years of therapy later on, with an earnest doctor explaining to me that my lying to the children has damaged their fragile sense of reality.
But it was worth it!
by Nan Sheppard
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Photo graciously provided by LadyDragonflyCC – Tinsel Time!!!! , through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
I’m still not convinced. 3 yr olds are gullable but 5 yr olds? They are so smart I’ll have to wildly elaborate the lie. And I hate when people use Santa as a threat….have you been good?….Santa won’t bring you whatever…..Santa is watching, coming in your room tonight…..no wonder Alex was up till 11pm Christmas eve.
We NEVER NEVER used Santa as a threat. And we made it clear that even if you don’t believe, you still get presents. Takes the pressure off!