by Brianne Chohrach

Created on: February 11, 2009   Last Updated: February 13, 2009

Up to this very day, I believe in Santa Claus. I do so because I must. As a young child, I came to the conclusion that Santa just was not real. I told my mother so. She informed me, very matter-of-factly, "if you stop believing, you stop receiving". In other words, if you do not continue to pretend to believe in Santa, then no more "Santa" presents for you. "Santa" always brought the best gifts, so I continued to "believe". This still rings true to me to this day.

She meant it as a joke, but I never saw the real harm in it. I could have cared less either way if Santa was real or not. That is, until I had children. I never really knew how I felt on this subject until then. Never in my mind did I question starting them on believing in Santa Claus. My oldest son is 7. His friend, the youngest of four children, promptly informed my son last December, that Santa Claus was not real. He came home very shaken by this.

He asked me, "Mom, is Santa Claus real?" and then he told me what his friend had told him. I, in turn, answered his question by simply asking him, "Do YOU believe that Santa Claus is real?" He said yes, he did. So, I left it at that. What is the harm? Where is the harm in our children believing in something innocent like Santa? They are going to be shocked into the harsh reality that a lot of innocent childhood things are not real and that a lot of the scary, darker things we have shielded them from, are. So, why not allow a child to remain in childhood oblivion for just a while?

Why not play into the imagination and creativity of a kid? Where, really, is the harm? What will the damage to their psyche really be? I have not yet met a single person who says, "if only I hadn't believed in Santa Claus, then my life would be great." No one blames Santa Claus for the misfortune in their lives. I think to believe or not to believe should come down to the individual. But, do not ruin it for the rest of our children who we encourage to be kids.

We force children to grow up too quickly as it is. I say we not speed up the process. If believing in Santa Claus keeps my child innocent and happy for just one more year, then I, by all means, am going to continue the charade. I have two more children to follow in his footsteps and when my oldest does decide (on his own time) that he does not believe in Santa Claus any longer, I am going to quote my mother and simply say, "When you stop believing, you stop recieving." And, hopefully, I will be able to leave it at that.

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