Comments on: Should parents lie about Santa?

By: Urban Infidel

Urban Infidel — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:45:35 +0000

From a very early age [5 years old] I recognized the handwriting on the gift notes, so there was no need to lie to me. I already knew there was no Santa, but it did not, in any way at all ruin Christmas.

By: Nick_Angel

Nick_Angel — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:13:57 +0000

Yes, there’s no problem in it. Same with the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy.

By: Fallon

Fallon — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:18:36 +0000

I explained to her that there was a real Santa who lived long ago (we went to the hated wikipedia for info about the life of St. Nicholas). I told her that parents continue the tradition of anonymous giving, so that there is no expectation of thanks, just the joy of giving in honor of the birth of Christ. Laura in Maryland on December 20, 2012 at 12:44 AM

This.

By: Pragmatic

Pragmatic — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:05:29 +0000

Santa is a lie…do not lie to your children….what’s the problem?

By: stenwin77

stenwin77 — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:46:29 +0000

A lie by any other name is still a lie.

We were always told that God’s love for us was the biggest gift ever, Jesus. We give gifts at Christmastime to those we love and they aren’t always bought at a store.

I never told my children that santa came down the chimney (that we didn’t have) and brought them gifts. They knew that gifts were given to them because we loved them.

I always said that some kids believed that ridiculous Santa nonsense but they should not ruin their family’s twisted fun… unless the kid asked them.

FWIW

By: tjexcite

tjexcite — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:23:13 +0000

Is it still a lie when it is the idea of Santa/St. Nick of gifts and charity is the message overs some guy in a red suit.

By: AbaddonsReign

AbaddonsReign — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:11:20 +0000

This is a topic which my wife and I have debated because of our infant son. I think we have come to the consensus that we’ll present the fun myth as a fun myth.

By: viking01

viking01 — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:25:35 +0000

The best approach is to explain that presents come from benign aliens from outer space. Benign aliens whom anger easily and know instantly whether they’re naughty or nice… with immediate consequences.
A great motivational tool.

By: DanaSmiles

DanaSmiles — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:15:23 +0000

When you are old enough to question ‘Santa’ THAT’S when you know you are old enough to stop expecting gifts from him. That’s what I told my daughter. She never questoned it again.

By: Dollayo

Dollayo — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:35:57 +0000

“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
“Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
“Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

“VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
“115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.”

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. New York Sun