Santa Maybe...

Today one of my friends posted on Facebook that they can't believe that people lie to their kids about Santa Clause. Their main point was that it is never okay to be that deceitful to anyone, at any age, so why is it okay to do that to your kids. Many people agreed with this post and said that they never did the Santa stuff with their kids. There was a lot of passive aggressive comments about how they are honest with their kids and don't want to teach their kids to be deceitful.

Although I see their point, the post made me really sad. The belief in Santa is such a magical thing, at least it was for me. I actually clung to the belief in Santa long after I knew the truth, because I wanted to believe it so badly. Losing Santa was like losing some part of my childhood. I never saw it as my parents lying to me, or being deceitful. Even at the time, I thought they were just trying to keep the magic alive, and they in turn asked me to keep it alive for my little sister. I was sad, because I wanted Santa to be real, but never once was I upset or mad at my parents about it.

I guess if I had never known about Santa, maybe I wouldn't have missed him. If my parents had raised me all along knowing that Santa is make believe, I wouldn't have experienced the let down when I found out the truth. I think I would have felt left out when my friends talked about Santa, and I probably would have spoiled that magic for them with the truth.

But I wouldn't have experienced the magic. I wouldn't have felt that excitement when Santa had eaten the cookies we left out, or took the carrots for the reindeer. I wouldn't have wondered how Santa could have possibly snuck in our house without anyone hearing him. I wouldn't have almost wet myself because I thought I saw Santa's sleigh and reindeer in the sky (while listening to the radio that was tracking Santa's movement), and I wouldn't have felt that thrill when Santa "accidentally" dropped one of our packages outside.

When the hubs and I have children, Santa will visit our house. We will leave out cookies and carrots, we'll listen for hooves on the roof, we'll write letters to the North Pole, and we'll listen to the radio and Santa's whereabouts on Christmas Eve. When it's time, we'll explain to our children that although we are the ones leaving presents, that Santa lives in everyone, spreading magic and Christmas cheer.

<3 M