The War on Santa
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Posted By: prometheus Posted on: Dec. 25, 2006 at 1:18 PM  10 Comments
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How many times today (XMAS) did I have to lie? 12 maybe 15. Me, the guy who proudly thinks he is almost always honest. Lying to my kids no less! Who, What and why did they create this whole Santa crap for? Is it really harmless to perpetuate this non-truth year after year? My oldest girl is 9 and wants to believe with all her heart! She tells me about the kids at school who don't (and then looks deep into my lying eyes). Why am I put into this position? And does it set them up later in life to believe other even more ridiculous fabrications? What about the ones who never stop believing? what happens to them? The nut house? or the white house? After they opened their giant piles of gifts I asked my wife "Did you get that mp3 player at Walgreen's?" and she said "Yes" the older girl asked "I thought it was from Santa?" because it was marked from Santa, and my wife said "It was . . . Santa can shop anywhere he wants" and the lie lives on for maybe one more year . . . but I doubt it! They were really P-d after they learned the truth about the tooth faerie. I am afraid this giant Santa lie is soon going to rock their little worlds. isn't it like sticking a sharp fork deep into their fragile innocence. Yearly gift giving could proceed just fine without the flying reindeer.
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Dec. 25, 2006 at 08:20:10 PM
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| I even left peanut butter cookies (with bites out of them) and half a glass of milk for Santa. Kids found the proof tha Santa was here in the morning.
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Dec. 25, 2006 at 10:15:19 PM
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| When I was in elementary school I was actually beaten up by someone two grades ahead of me who told me that the Jews killed Santa. I felt like Big Gay Al on a cultural exchange trip to Wyoming. Maybe that kid heard it wrong, or maybe his parents were from the hills in W. Virginia, but I tell you, nothing good can come from thing Santa thing. |
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Dec. 26, 2006 at 10:27:43 AM
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| Uh, there's nothing wrong with jolly fat men who like to entice young children with presents in this day in age is there? |
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Dec. 26, 2006 at 02:46:17 PM
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| I can't profess that I got this Santa issue "correct" with my kids . . . but I think "we" as a family are doing better with our 3 and 4-year old grandchildren. Santa is presented as a story, a legend, myth, a character, "pretend," whatever you want to call it. Do you tell you kids that Paul Bunyan is real? Bugs Bunny? They can still appreciate those figures even though they are not presented as actual beings . . . and the parents tell the little kids that some children say Santa is real and some say he is like Cinderella, or the Runaway Pancake (or whatever) in a story, just a fun thing to read or think about . . . so we just had Christmas here at our house and there were a couple packages "From Santa" but most labelled from the actual, real adults who gave them . . . and the kids do not fret over some godlike, omniscient being who might land on the house and . . . well, you get it . . . they are more likely to try to wheedle information from us about what we got them this year. I think this is kinda the best way . . . to read The Night Before Christmas as a good story, make-belive if you want . . . and fun . . . Write on. --Grandpa Kevin
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Dec. 29, 2006 at 08:33:20 AM
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| We are raising ours without the lie of Santa. We tell him that some people do believe in him, and we don't spoil their fun. Plus, Gramma likes it, so we humor her.
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Dec. 29, 2006 at 02:39:31 PM
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| I am going to steer them into enjoying the Santa story (without the believing part) for next year. Ween them off of the lie . . . gently. But I've got a whole 11 months before I have to worry about it.
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Dec. 30, 2006 at 02:34:38 PM
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| I have heard murders say Satan made me do it, the voices made me do it, and one even claimed twinkies made him do it, but never have a heard the Santa defense. It's harmless and they will come to you onn day and tell you he isn't real, but I bet you money they will play along for the tounger kids, because it's fun. This crap about not scaring the kids with the sudden realization that a guy that they only think about once a year anyway is not real is bogus. Stop over reacting. You didn't kill anyone when you found out. My teenagers know the truth but they actually write Santa on gifts they give us. Relax, this isn't the end of the world. |
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Dec. 30, 2006 at 03:24:33 PM
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I know, just a cute little articlette. I found out about Santa being a lie when I saw the x-15's in the garage (remember those?). . . and then on Xmas they were marked "from Santa". Obliquely kind of an article on how lying is deeply embedded into the fabric of who we are as Americans and how it starts real early on. It might explain how so many of us get fooled so often . . . are we trained to be deceived and training our kids to be fooled too? Is it teaching the wrong values? Time will tell (or has already told). |
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Dec. 31, 2006 at 12:08:57 AM
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| Well in all seriousness, I agree with AA. During my psych rotations in medical school I never oncce encountered a PTSD (post traumatic Santa disorder) patient. I don't blame Santa for our problems today, and I think TV scars more fragile young minds than Santa ever will.
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I saw this little tidbit today in a magazine I get (The Week). The article said the journal
Child Development found that somewhere between the ages of 3 and 6, a child's brain figures out all by itself that Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny don't exist. Kids often keep up the pretense, the researchers said, because it's fun.
I really think it is a bonding experience of sorts. The kid likes it, and the kid knows that the parents love them so much that they don't want to break their hearts about "Santa."
So Prom, don't worry about it too much. Almost all of us have been there as kids. You kinda knew, but damn, if you told your parents you might not get something in your stocking. Right?
The whole Santa thing is bulls***, but what are you gonna do? Make your kid an outcast by not going along with the charade?
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