People Who Get Hysterical About The Santa ‘Lie’ Are Ridiculous

santa

Yes, I’m telling my kids the Santa lie. No, I don’t feel bad about it.

Every holiday season without fail, the great Santa debate comes up: should you lie to your children? Should you lie to other people’s children? Should you pretend there is a strange old man coming into your house bringing your children gifts? Should you fess up to your kids that there’s no magical Elf traveling to the North Pole every night? My advice — do whatever feels right to you. The Santa lie is fun for kids.

I’ve never, ever met an adult who felt betrayed by his parents for executing the Santa hoax. Yes, there may have been a little disappointment when you realized Santa wasn’t real after all, but do you still hold any anger or resentment towards your parents because of it? If you do, sorry – but that’s weird.

Last week a comedian, while commenting on a recent news story, slipped up and claimed that Santa wasn’t real. This was on a primetime news show that kids probably weren’t paying any attention to anyway. Parents freaked out and accused her of ruining Christmas. That’s ridiculous. Equally as ridiculous, were all the people chiming in talking about how horrible it is to lie to your kids about Santa to begin with. Insert giant eyeroll here:

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So Santa and The Tooth Fairy and The Easter Bunny aren’t beloved childhood myths, they’re the reason our kids will be running to therapy to deal with trust issues? I don’t buy it.

I really believed in Santa as a child. I remember trying to wait up to see his sleigh. At times I was even convinced I heard jingle bells. One year, I was up late with my usual ritual of trying to catch Santa landing on the roof, when I heard my parents downstairs. I snuck out of my room and peeked over our second floor landing into the living room below. I saw my mom putting an adorable koala stuffed animal under the tree. I remember thinking, “cute.” The next morning, the koala was presented as my gift from Santa. I remember being slightly confused, then eventually wrapping my brain around the idea that my parents had been Santa all along. I was not devastated.

If my children’s lives end up being so free of strife that they even think to mention the Santa lie as a betrayal, I’ll consider that a parenting win. For now, I’ll keep up the Santa hoax until my kids get bored with it or until some brat at school rats me out.

(photo: Pressmaster/ Shutterstock)

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