So, I’ve seen it raised a few times… the issue about children and Santa Claus … truth-telling, and all that.
I’ll get more auto-bio in a second, but generally speaking, I understand how folks can feel a bit torn on the issue.
On one hand, people can get so literal over time, that they don’t have any imagination left at all.
On the other hand, people are so susceptible to fantasy that they sugarcoat everything, until they have no roots.
I think somewhere in between is OK … especially when that fiction promotes love and acts of generosity. Work it out with your older family members. It should be a good conversation in any case.
But of course, that gets you all wrapped up in commercialism and buying experiences and all that horseshit.
Now let me get more specific as regards my own history on the matter.
As a kid, I was always a believer in Santa Claus … I even have a vague recollection of standing up in my baby crib and looking out the window on Christmas Eve and seeing a sleigh and reindeer fly across the sky - the whole thing… can still picture it.
But that aside, the whole concept of Santa Claus was fantastical … it was fun, magical … and you got stuff out of it. What’s not to like?
One day in second grade, my friend told me flat out that there was no Santa. I was appalled. Surely, he knew not of what he spoke.
I went home and and brought the question to my father, a novelist by trade … what some might call a “fantasist"
When I asked him what was up, he said there was no Santa Claus.
It was like a Mike Tyson punch in the face…
I was also outraged at the feebleness of his response. Here’s a man with prodigious levels of imagination, who couldn’t come up with anything better than that.
In my disappointment, I told him then that I would be handling the Santa matter for my two younger brothers, which I did - quite religiously … helping them write letters to Santa and then even writing thank you letters back from Santa on Christmas Eve, as well as putting out milk and cookies and occasionally even putting wet boot prints on the rug.
Yeah, I was a Santa Clausist.
I kept the illusion going with my kid. She seemed to enjoy it. But then 2nd grade came along for her too.
That year at Christmas, she went with her mom down to Louisiana, where her mom’s family’s from.
I was curious if any information on the matter was conveyed during that visit.
When she came back, I asked whether her mom had talked to her at all about Santa Claus?
And she said, “Yeah, Mom said there was no Santa Claus, but I decided not to believe her.”
And that’s where I left it … It’s a personal matter between you and your kids … but but even more than that it’s a personal matter between your kid and Santa Claus or with any and all imaginary beings.
It’s not something you need to be hardline about… If you feel you can put good energy into the task of preserving the spirit of Santa, then great … do it. If it’s too much of a strain for you or them, then forget about it.
In general, I think being hardline with your kids is not a great idea, since they know what being a kid is all about and you can’t remember hardly anything … So, don’t get hung up on it, Ok?
You got much bigger fish to fry… Like the digital fucking IDs and CBDCs and surviving in a slave economy.
Happy Holidaze!
