OK, so some of you are going to be all mad at me and think I’m ridiculous. That’s fine. I really don’t care if you want to tell your kids Santa is real. Parents get to do whatever they want. I have no grudges, I’m just sharing what I did.
I taught my kids that Santa was a fun pretend character — “There’s isnt a real Santa who lives at the north pole and comes down the chimney — but it’s fun to pretend — I’m really Santa”
I don’t think they missed out on anything and I taught them to respect other families who encouraged their kids to believe in the fictious character. My kids didn’t tell their friends, because I warned them. “Shhhh…. don’t tell your friends, their parents may want them to believe that Santa is real.”
We made cookies for Santa, addressed gifts from Santa and dad even dressed-up like Santa. He wasn’t scary like all those mall Santas. It’s good to pretend, but it’s pretend. It’s not real. Like that elf on the shelf game that families play during Christmas — It’s fun make-believe, but you won’t catch me telling my kids or grandkids that Mr. Elf goes to the North Pole each night to tell Santa if they’ve been naughty or nice. I’ll prentend with them, but I won’t try to convince them it’s real.
2 reasons I told my kids that Santa isn’t real
1. I don’t like to lie to my kids. I want them to believe me. When I tell them that God is real, I want them to know that I believe I’m telling them the truth. I want them to develop their own faith in God, which is somewhat mystical and difficult to believe. Many believe that Santa and God are both make-believe characters. I want to differentiate the two. God is real, Santa is pretend. The Elf is a toy.
2. I was afraid of Santa. As a child, I was afraid of Santa, afraid that he was creeping around my home in the dark, looking at me in bed. I pulled the covers over my head on Christmas Eve — Haunting memories. Some years later I found out he wasn’t real. Phew — no more Santa fear. I’m pretty sure I would’ve been fearful of that elf on the shelf too.
It’s kind of strange — We teach our kids to be leery of strangers. We’d never tell them to jump up on some stranger’s lap. We wouldn’t hand our toddler over to some stranger in a strange outfit for a photo moment. But it happens all the time in malls around the country.
Here are some very unhappy children sitting on Santa’s lap. The first one is me. I was three. And I love that dress! Santa looks kind of scary though.
What!!?? Santa isn’t real? I loved hearing how you handled this, Deila, and really admire your answer to this fairly universal dilemma I think most parents go through.
In my family we always fostered the belief in Santa for the little ones until they were old enough to reveal “the rest of the story” and for them to understand what I believe: not that we wanted deliberately mislead them, but that in my mind, although Santa isn’t a real person, he is a real concept: one that I feel truly captures the “Magic” or “Spirit” of Christmas and the concept of freely giving without receiving anything in return; a character that can inspire one’s imagination almost as much as the Savior can demand one’s faith and devotion.
My kids all understand the true meaning and importance of Christmas, but they also still have memories of going to bed on Christmas Eve and, just on the verge of falling asleep, hearing Santa’s sleigh bells outside of their windows (I’d sneak out into the cold, hide from view of searching little eyes trying to catch a glimpse, and ring my special bells that I’ve had for years and keep hidden in my room except on Christmas Eve). I still sneak out and ring the bells for any of my children who are at home at Christmas, even though they are all grown and know the “secret” of Santa Claus. On several occasions afterward they have expressed their appreciation to me for that small gesture, indicating that it always brings back wonderful memories and makes the holiday special. When I was younger, after my mission before I was married, I used to dress up as an “elf” (because back then I definitely did not have the body type to be Santa and couldn’t afford to buy or make the suit, so I put on a white wig, long beard, and mustache that I had made from “fake fur” I had purchased in a craft store, a Robin-Hood-type hat, red turtle-neck shirt, vest, green pants, and black boots) on Christmas Eve and go around to friends, family, and sometimes businesses where people were working late, to leave little candy canes, ring my bells outside their children’s windows (always with their permission, and sometimes by their request), and generally just wish people a Merry Christmas and tell them that Santa was on his way. I had a great time. Sure, I got some strange looks, and probably frightened a few small children, just like Santa helpers scare the kids in your delightful blog photos, but I loved doing it. Maybe that partly because when I was younger, after I knew about Santa, I wanted to grow up and be Santa, and developed all of these concepts to make a sleigh and reindeer fly, and generally be able to actually do at least some of what Santa supposedly could.
That concept of Santa later led me to write several pieces of fiction about Santa Claus, including one called “Scientific Santa” about a boy who knows there is no Santa because the things Santa purportedly does are scientifically impossible. The boy is approached by a well-known, eccentric old man in his town (who turns out to be one of Santa’s elves in disguise) who has overheard the boy’s conversations with some of his friends, who themselves are in various stages of disbelief, about the impossible exploits of Santa. The old man offers to take the boy and his friends on a parent-and police chief-approved plane trip to the North Pole, supposedly to prove undeniably that there is no Santa. What they find at the North Pole makes for some fun reading.
I’m currently working on a children’s chapter book with the working title “Christmas Giraffe” that I hope to finish before next Christmas. Life keeps getting in the way!
Anyway, thanks for your wonderful blog. I really enjoy what you write although I don’t always comment!
I love the idea of the bells — and I can’t wait to read your writings. You have always been very creative, that sounds like a cute story. I love the magical side of life and as long as I know Santa isn’t sneeking around my house at night, I can play the make-believe game. 🙂 We just borrowed my mom’s Santa suit that she made years ago, along with the beard and all. Gene is going to dress up for the grandkids — it should be fun.
Ha! Those poor kids, can ya just imagine the horror.
LOL Those are some freaky Santas for sure…you made your point with me! ;D