Is There Really a Santa Claus?

When I was young and growing up, I was told a tale of a fat, jolly bearded man in red named “Santa Claus” that would magically slip down our chimney on Christmas Eve and shove a ton of presents I asked for under our Christmas tree. Parents these days however are beginning to reconsider continuing the “lie” of Santa Claus since it is just that – a lie.

“I don’t want my child resenting me!” one of my friends scoffed. “When he finds out I’ve lied to him ONCE about Santa Claus, he’ll think I’m lying about EVERYTHING!”

Is the Lie Bad?

She’s got a point. This could perhaps affect a child in a negative way – particularly as lying about Santa Claus only leads to further lies: flying reindeer, living at the North Pole, receiving fictitious letters from “Santa Claus”. A lot of parents also detest the materialism that Santa Claus supports and promotes. The “reward and punishment” system of making it on Santa’s “good list” is thought to promote an unhealthy way of looking at consequences in life. If you’re good, you receive presents. If you’re bad, you get a lump of coal. There is no grey area or allowance for a child to explain their “bad behavior” either, which may make children feel stifled and unheard.

Santa is a Good Guy

But here’s the flipside to this whole argument. Bringing up the wonder of “Santa Claus” will often get a child’s imagination running with tons of wonderful and creative ideas. Thinking about the many different toys being produced in the elves workshop, imagining the characters plodding around in a make-believe snowy land, dreaming up what it is these characters do for the other 364 days of the year – these all help children explore abstract ideas and fantasy. Santa Claus is also often viewed as a charitable character to all rather one who only rewards those who have done what their elders command.

So which side should you be on? Which ever one you feel is best for you as a parent and for your child. Santa Claus can be portrayed in what ever way you as a parent choose to (just as you make Christmas and the holidays mean whatever YOU want it to mean), regardless of outside pressures (the media, other children). Make him who you want him to be and forget what everyone else thinks. That’s how you and your family will have the happiest holiday of all.

photo by Julia Freeman-Woolpert