Dec 13 2008
“Sorry Honey, But Santa Is A Lie”
For how many generations have parents continued to tell the lie of Santa’s existence? Told that a fat man with a white beard in a red suit will you give you whatever you want , granted you were “nice” all year round, to be then broken to that he really doesn’t exist, is devastating. You go to school and little Pamela mocks you for still thinking that Santa is real. Going home you refuse to believe such a lie. Santa exists and he brings gifts to good little girls and boys. At the dinner table, you question this calamity to only be heartbroken.
Parents tell their children of the story of Santa Claus because it instills them the concept of hope. It gives them something to believe in. And when they learn that he isn’t real, they are crushed. Maybe the real lesson is to not just teach them to believe in something, but to teach them to be able to handle such news that may be devastating. Maybe by having children learn at an early age that not everything is real and that dreams can be broken, they will somehow learn and develop an understanding and a way to accept. All children do eventually get over the fact that Santa does not exist. They may be distraught at first, but they come to accept that he isn’t, gaining a degree of being able to pick themselves back up after being let down.
I think Santa is sometimes more fun for parents than kids. Parents get to eat the cookies and drink the milk. Santa is an easy way for them to find out what their kids want for Christmas. I always wondered what I’m going to do when I have kids. And how they will hate me when they find out Santa is not real.
Interesting theory. I think that for some parents, it is more fun. I have known an account of which the parent was more excited than the child. But I think it was because it restores her memory of her childhood and the joy she felt for the holiday season. I think it could have been some subconcious way of reminiscing. Perhaps some parents do just tell about Santa because its fun for them, but what they don’t realize is that they’re really helping to create the foundation of let downs.
But all children come to forgive their parents for lying about Santa. As they get older they’ll learn that no harm was meant.