by Jennifer Paul

Created on: October 22, 2010

As a kid Christmas and Santa were a big deal to me. From the first of November right until Christmas Eve I anxiously waited for the big day when I got to open all my presents. I loved everything about the holiday, the break from school, the food, the smells,and most of all I loved going to the mall and sitting with Santa for my picture and my candy cane. I loved Santa, from what I believed to be true about him, he was the most amazing person I had never met. As an adult I feel much different. I feel strongly  that perpetuating the myth of Santa Claus is not good for children and it was my daughters first Christmas when I decided this. A fat old man in a red velvet suit sat there holding my two month old baby, and as I prayed that he didn't drop her I realized this wasn't a tradition I wanted to pass on to my children.

The old song says  'he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good...', sounds like a stalker to me. But as a kid Santa was this magical guy who brought me gifts whether I was bad or not. He always picked the best presents and filled my stocking with the best stuff. I used to tell my mom to leave the door unlocked so Santa wouldn't have any trouble getting in. As an adult I find the idea of sitting your kid on a strange mans lap so they can get some candy a little inappropriate. It sends a mixed signal, like it isn't okay to talk to strangers unless they got candy or offer you gifts. Do we really want our kids walking around with that kind of idea in their heads? 

And It scares me now, as an adult, to think about some stranger coming into my house in the middle of the night. I don't feel comfortable telling my children about a man who sneaks around at night leaving gifts for them. People say it is a story for the kids to enjoy and that it is innocent but I disagree. More often than not the youngest kids are the ones screaming because they have to sit on some hairy old guys lap so their parents can pay ten bucks for the picture. It is something adults tell children so maybe they will behave all year long. And maybe we tell our kids about Santa because of how we enjoyed him as a child.

Why do we tell our kids that the gifts we give them are from Santa? Our children should know we buy them, and learn to appreciate that we have to work for the gifts we give them, that it cost us our time and money and that these gifts do not appear out of thin air. As harmless of a lie the myth about Santa is made out to be,it is still a lie and for what? What is better, that our children idolize their parents, or a make believe person?  Are they really missing out on anything if we don't tell them about Santa? Times have changed and I think we are foolish to believe that telling our kids about Santa does them any good. Instead we should tell our children the ideals that the myth of Santa Claus represents,like it is better to give than to receive, and to be kind and loving to everyone.

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