Should kids know the truth about Santa?

SHOULD we encourage our kids to believe in Santa, or blow the whole thing wide open from the time they’re old enough to recognise the guy in the red suit? SPOILER ALERT

Should we tell our kids the truth about Santa?

SHOULD we encourage our kids to believe in Santa, or should we blow the whole sham wide open from the time they’re old enough to recognise the guy in the red suit?

Let them believe — Kate Calacouras

SEVERAL years ago I was visiting my then two-year-old niece. It was a few weeks before Christmas, and she was starting to understand the concept of Santa.

When we bathed her, my brother (her dad) went outside, put on a Santa voice, boomed a few “Ho ho ho”s, told her she was a really kind girl, and she would get some lovely presents at Christmas.

The look on her face was priceless. Her whole body shook with excitement and she could barely speak when she tried to tell Santa what she wanted.

It’s this kind of magic that makes Christmas so special for kids. Childhood is the only time in your life when you’ve got the innocence to believe in something as mystical as Santa, and it’s something to cherish.

Little kids spend their days playing make-believe. Whether it’s sitting in a box pretending it’s a pirate ship or putting on a costume to become a character, their days are spent growing their imagination.

Caught out! Who’s leaving those presents under the tree?

And we should encourage that. You’ve got plenty of time to be a cynical adult, and only a few precious years when it’s fine to run around with a towel tucked into the back of your T-shirt pretending to be superman. (OK, there’s a few adults that do that too … but that’s another story.)

We should foster kids’ imaginations. And encouraging them to believe in Santa is part of that.

There are few better moments than waking up on Christmas morning as a kid to find that Santa has stopped by. And encouraging belief in the guy in the big red suit is all part of it.

Kids get to enjoy the whole process. From writing a letter to the North Pole to sitting on Santa’s lap in your local shopping centre, there are weeks, if not months, of build up to the big day.

Why not enjoy this beautiful innocence with your kids while it lasts? Before long they’ll be taller than you and way too cool to believe in anything as magical as Santa.

Who would want to deny our kids the joy of opening their Santa sack on Christmas morning?

Tell them the truth — Debra Killalea

THE jolly fat guy is a total sham (some) adults use to bribe kids into behaving.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas — it is a truly magical time of the year and I don’t need some guy in a red suit to make me feel festive.

I also don’t need his help to make Christmas magical for my kid. Presents, seeing relatives and friends, decorations and giving to others is magic enough.

And really that’s what the magic is about — not pretending some guy in a suit flies all around the world in a sleigh delivering presents to every kid in the world.

My parents never had a lot of money while I was growing up and for a while I was a “believer” not because I thought it was magical but because I was told he wouldn’t visit unless I believed.

But when each year passed and every kid in the street had a new bike and all the latest gadgets, and I had (albeit) a few lovely presents, I began to wonder what I did so wrong that Santa forgot to bring me the latest Sony PlayStation too.

If that sounds ungrateful it’s not meant to be, but I am speaking from the mind of a young kid who naturally wants what every other kid has.

Then I found out he wasn’t real and suddenly it all made sense. If only my parents told me the real deal from the start.

There’s months of Christmas excitement to enjoy!

I just wish I’d known in the first place because whether it is magical or not, role playing or not, and imaginative or not, you are lying to kids when you tell them he’s real.

And that is why Santa won’t be visiting my house.

I’ve seen kids in floods of tears when they see their fantasy shattered.

Admittedly it’s not all kids, and to be honest most would probably know as they get older he’s not real.

But aren’t we going against everything we tell them when we’re committing the biggest sin of all — lying and insisting he’s real and kids won’t get presents if they don’t believe or behave?

Christmas magic isn’t just about Santa. Kids will find magic anywhere and my little one gets plenty of imaginative role playing without all the lies.

If you think I’m being a humbug that’s cool, I can handle that. I can’t handle lying.

And if you say you’re depriving your kid of magic, my response is this: do kids of Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist backgrounds miss out on magic?

I know plenty of people from all those denominations who don’t feel they missed out on a visit from the jolly fat man.

I don’t have a problem with Santa being part of Christmas and neither do I have an issue with trees and tinsel being part of it either. The only issue I have is telling kids he is real.

And I’m not one for telling parents how to do their job. The first rule I learnt in parenting is do what works for you, so I’m doing just that.

Merry Christmas.

Do you think you should tell your kids the truth about Santa? Comment below or join the conversation on Twitter @newscomauHQ.