In my house, we don’t do “Santa.” No, I don’t find it immoral. No, I don’t think you will be dragged on some cheesy talk show by your disgruntled child for “lying” to him about the existence of Santa Claus. My husband is a fuddy duddy who thinks the whole Santa thing was silly. He is far too logical for this type of fantasy play. I can’t keep up on chore charts much less a Santa charade. I also wanted to focus the season on our Christian beliefs. We watch the Santa shows and all that fun stuff we just consider him a character like Cinderella or Mickey Mouse. Without much prodding from me or my husband my first child simply did not believe in Santa. Certainly our lack of influence on the subject had something to do with this. However, the stage was set and my 2 year old just did not believe there was a Santa Claus. She also did not believe that if she cried long enough she really wouldn’t get another cookie, so we can take what a toddler believes with a grain of salt sometimes.
Then one day something happened that shattered her belief that Santa did not exist. When she was three years old we went Christmas shopping for daddy. As we walked through the mall my little girl suddenly stopped in utter amazement. She turned and walked into the nearest store dumbfounded. I followed after her and asked her what was wrong. She said “Santa. I..I never believed he was real. There he is…I never believed he was real and there he is.”
I wondered if I had entered the twilight zone. Most parents are faced with the day they need to explain why they allowed a belief in Santa. However, I stand there faced with the need to explain why I never allowed her to believe in a man who is not real but in her mind is real. Thoughts raced through my mind: Should I tell her Santa is real? Should I tell her that’s just a man in a suit? Will I be dragged on some cheesy talk show years from now if she now believes in Santa but I try to dispel the myth? Will I be dragged on some cheesy talk show years from now because I allow her to believe but later have to recant? I mean let’s think about this. Should I tell her there is a Santa after telling her there isn’t only to one day have to tell her that there really isn’t? What kind of crazy circle talk is that?
I have no choice but to tell her that the Santa out there is a fake. I realize that if I now allow a belief in Santa it will only last until we get home to her father anyway. Still wondering if somehow I landed in the twilight zone, she looks at me as if I was crazy.
When we arrive home I tell my husband of the incident. He decides to reinforce the truth as gently as possible. Geneva accepted what he had to say as if he just told her we were having ice cream for dessert. He asked her if she had any questions and she replied, “can I have juice?”