by Erin Steeley

Created on: November 11, 2010

There is a certain beauty in belief, especially when everyone else is in such need of it. Children who grow up believing in Santa Claus are given the opportunity to learn a unique lesson about the Christmas holiday. If you look at Santa Claus from an alternate point of view, outside of the commercial image that has been built over the last two centuries, you will see a very different character. What is Santa Claus really all about? The answer is very simple: giving. You have an individual who labors for an entire year with a group of elves to create toys. When Christmas Eve comes, he takes the evening to fly around the world and give these toys and gifts away for the pure joy of doing it. What better example could the child choose to believe it?

When he is presented in this fashion to a child, the parents can present a natural love of giving to others and finding enjoyment in it. There is also the element of dreaming. Every child dreams, whether it be of a toy or a certain experience. Encouraging dreams keeps an imagination young and vibrant, along with open. If a child has the ability to dream, they will not limit themselves later in life. Even if that dream turns out to be different than they originally thought it should be, they still had the experience believing in the magic tied to it. That is the essence of childhood, and all too often children are denied the chance to delve into that magic and a world of dreams because of a bad home situation, or a rough environment. Any time that we can allow children to have the opportunity to pretend and to believe in something is critical.

From an educational standpoint, play is one of the most wonderful opportunities for children to learn. Preschoolers, for example, act out what they see in the world. Santa Claus is a gentle, joyful and giving character. Around the holidays, they will often pretend to be Santa Claus and love to hear stories related to his life and adventures. These are gold mines for parents to use as opportunities to instill good values such as giving, kindness and consequences. Santa Claus has a list of who is naughty or nice, a basic lesson that those who do wrong lose out in the end. But next year, those who were naughty have a chance to renew themselves and get on the good list again. Here we have the element of forgiveness, so what could be more innocent than that?

In my own personal experience, I was not damaged or emotionally scarred from believing in Santa Claus as a child. I have beautiful memories of watching Christmas specials on television such as "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." At the time, these shows presented a magical, positive story that I loved to watch year after year. I took away valuable insights from those experiences, and from the times of hearing stories related to Santa Claus. I also learned a valuable lesson about love: how my parents loved me so much that they took the time to keep my belief alive as long as they could. When it came time for me to see things from a different point of view, I was taught that Santa Claus is actually very real. He is a spirit that we all can pervade during the holidays outside of the shopping madness and focus on things. Santa Claus is simply a way for adults to keep the innocence and faith of childhood alive as we age.

Though belief should never be forced, if a child believes in Santa Claus we should just let them be. It's a sweet experience that is nothing more than an enjoyment of childhood magic and a chance to revel in innocence.

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