by Donna Marie Gray

Created on: March 12, 2009   Last Updated: March 13, 2009

Absolutely yes! It is one of the last things left to young children in a world where they seem to be forced to grow up way too fast! How cruel to yank away Santa Claus, along with the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy.

I am a mother and a grandmother. I raised three children who were thrilled to watch the younger child who still believed in Santa. It was truly as though they felt it was still okay to make believe they believed so as not to disappoint the younger child. And I have never known a child to be traumatized upon learning that Santa Claus did not really exist.

When I was a child I strongly believed. Okay, I clung to every childhood experience as though I might never grow up, but I did survive and I was never traumatized... even though I believed in Santa until I was 10 years old! If the truth be known, deep in my heart I knew there was a Santa Claus. In reality, Santa really dose live in my heart.

None of this in any way diminishes the true meaning of Christmas. Children have the ability to distinguish between the Santa and the religious aspects of the season. Families that do not acknowledge a religion don't usually deny their children the Santa Claus fantasy when they are young. Even in non-Christian families, often the children are treated to a Santa Claus concept.

Perhaps the greater danger of traumatizing children is due to overzealous parents who are robbing their young children of enjoying being children. The attitude that everything presented to the child need be factual in all aspects is really a ridiculous concept. Children are being denied using their creative imaginations.

Today's children are pushed into reality situations from a very early age and are never allowed the privilege of pretending. That is more likely to traumatize a child than letting him enjoy the childhood fantasies which, in the long run, teaches him the difference between make believe and reality. The fact is, most children simply outgrow the childhood myths and move on. This is how they determine they are "growing up".

Santa Claus is a myth, but so are most of the things in childhood. There is no real magic, no Peter Pan and no tooth fairy. But none of these do any harm to children. If myths are so harmful, how about the fact that we all, at one time or another, have studied some of the greatest myths in the world, such as the Greek Gods and Goddesses in history.

I believe that parents would be far better off to teach their children to be polite and to be kind, and leave their imaginations alone. There are harsh realities in life to be faced when they are grown. Do not rob them of their childhood fantasies out of some misguided sense of what constitutes truth and honesty. I absolutely support the Santa Claus myth.

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