You'd better watch out!

The Santa Myth

November 21 2007

Whether you're the kind of parent who creeps in on Christmas Eve to deposit presents at the foot of the bed, or goes so far as to put sooty footprints on the living room floor, apparently most kids have twigged the truth about the man in the red suit by the time they're seven and three quarters.
Back in the more innocent 1970s, children apparently believed in Santa beyond the age of nine, but a new survey by Disney to mark the launch of Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause has found that today's kids are more clued-up.

From: http://www.raisingkids.co.uk/todaysnews07/news_211107_03.asp

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I was raised in the not-so-innocent-80s, and I am here to tell you that I believed in Santa.

Until I was 12.

Yes, really. (I was a late bloomer, in bra size and emotional maturity.) I'd suspected for a couple years, but when I finally pieced it all together, I told the family member I thought would be the least angry with me--a favorite aunt. She got wide eyes, and said, "You'd better talk to your dad." Crap. I was in trouble for not believing in Santa? My dad seemed somehow befuddled by this development in his little girl; he alternated between what seemed to be anger and disappointment. Finally, he pulled me aside, and told me that yes, I was right, there really was no fat man in a suit who delivered presents--but I had better be clear on one thing: "The spirit of Santa is very real. And that is what's important."

As with most things in life, my dad is so right.

My nine year old is dangerously close to not believing. And I, well, I feel my father's anger and disappointment at this development. Last year (when she was in third grade), she came home and questioned us constantly: "Mom, so-and-so said Santa isn't real...is he? How does he get to all the houses? Does he really live at the North Pole?" This was exhausting, this constant parade of know-it-all, disenchanted eight year olds trying to wreck my little girl's belief in Santa Claus. So you know what we did? We lied. We bought sleigh bells and made Santa-landing-on-the-roof-noises. We baked cookies and left them out for the big guy. We tracked Santa on NORAD's website. We kept her believing in Santa, if only for one more year.

In my research for this blog I found people calling Santa 'the big lie.' This crushes me a bit. Since when is believing in something you don't see, but benefit from, a terrible thing? I wasn't broken spirited when I found out Santa wasn't real. And when my kids quit believing, they'll be just fine (I may not be, however). My husband never believed in Santa, and he feels totally robbed. I did believe in Santa, and I am thankful. It's a lie, but as far as I am concerned--believing is always the truth.

Lisa 'Jolly ol' C