Well, here it is less than a week until Santa arrives… I usually don’t do these things, but I think it’s my duty to alert any of you faithful believers that today’s blog may contain information that Santa Clause may not be real.
I read an article a few days ago about a study that concluded that children stop believing in Santa Claus by about the age of six, but play along to keep their parents happy. Many of the kids in the study said they found out that Santa wasn’t real from older siblings and friends, which has always been the case, but recently a lot found out on social media. One of the conclusions of the study was that the Internet and technology available to children contributed to the early dis-belief and that the information was exposed to the youngsters “too young, too soon.”
Well, of course this study got me to thinking…. Generally, lying to kids is a bad thing. But then, there’s this Santa Clause thing. I think most people, especially parents, think believing in Santa is a normal, and healthy, part of a child’s development. Now let’s be honest, the idea of a man who flies around the world in a sleigh, drawn by reindeers and goes into people’s homes through their chimneys and delivers presents — all in one night is… highly improbable. But if you’re 3, 4, 5 or 6 years old, it seems perfectly logical.
Kids believe, and that’s what’s so great about kids, they believe — in not only Santa, but the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, imaginary friends and all sorts of fairy-tale creatures. Kids use their imagination all the time, even if they know some of the things they create are fiction. When Emily was little (maybe two or three) she said she was going to have a picnic with her imaginary parents. I asked if her imaginary parents were nicer than her real parents… her response (after looking at me like I was stupid) was, they’re imaginary! So obviously little ones are perfectly capable of keeping real and imaginary separated.
But as kids get older, the Santa story, like a lot of good things, eventually comes to an end. Kids stop believing in Santa at different ages. As the study pointed out, often their friends break the news or they discover it on social media. But kids also figure it out for themselves — when they notice that the story doesn’t quite add up. Questioning what’s real and what’s not is normal. Most parents have a good sense of when their children are ready to accept the truth. I remember that being harder for me than it was for our kids when the Santa story ended in our house. St. Nicholas was a real person and he became famous for giving gifts and money to the poor — it’s those values that’s important anyway. So when the little ones stop believing, parents can (and probably should) tell them about the real St. Nicholas and impress upon them that the spirit of Christmas is real….
For most of us, especially parents, a lot of Christmas is about children, magic and imagination. And when you’re young, lots of that revolves around a fat guy in a red suit. When we have kids, we should hang on to that chubby guy for as long as we can, because when he’s gone, so is some of the imagination and magic.
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