A Special Christmas 2010 Blog: The Case for Santa...

You know, there's been a "debate" going back and forth for several years now as to whether it's a good thing or a bad thing to let your children believe in Santa Claus. Don't believe me? Just take a quick glance through this google search:

Should Kids Believe in Santa?

What stuns me the most about this is that I know "devout" Christians who absolutely refuse to let their child believe in Santa. Wow.

So, I'm going to keep this brief , but I'm going to present what I feel is a pretty clear-cut case in defense of Santa.

1. Children have a sense of wonder about the world that we, as adults, almost without fail, lose as we grow up. It's truly sad when you stop to think about it. Very few things "take our breath away" as adults. While as children, every new thing they come across fills them with wonder! Why, as a society, are we increasingly taking our children's childhood away from them? I was at a store the other day looking over new cell phones (not that I wanted to buy one, I'm a geek...I just like looking at them!) and a woman was standing there debating with a clerk what phone and plan she should buy for her seven year old daughter! Really? While I could go on forever about why no seven year old child "needs" a cell phone, the most pressing argument against it, in my opinion is this: let them be a kid! All too soon they will be an adult who on many many many occasions will wish they could just pitch that stupid thing into a river! Seven year old kids aren't supposed to be talking on cell phones...they're supposed to be playing with dolls, or tonka trucks, or sledding down a steep hill, giggling so hard they can't catch their breath by the time they reach bottom. Just generally being a kid and doing kid things! (Side note: I became so infuriated standing there listening to that woman debate what her 7-year old child "needed" in a cell phone that I had to walk away before I lit into her...)
2. A child's world is rife with fantasy anyway. Imaginary friends. Fairy tales. You name it, kids live and love fantasy. It is perfectly normal, and perfectly healthy for children to fantasize. Why deny them Santa Claus? He teaches the single most important quality of Human Kind: The concept of giving and caring for others. It seems that one of the basic "reasons" for parents not allowing children to believe in Santa is that as a parent, you have to "lie to your children." Are you kidding me? Really? This is such a specious argument, in my opinion. When the child gets old enough to start being skeptical that there is a "real" Santa, they are maturing enough to understand that, while Santa is based on a real person, the concept of Santa...that we should be caring and giving individuals...that those who do good things are rewarded in return...is what "believing" in Santa is all about. Will they be disappointed that there's no "real" Santa? Probably. But guess what...it's another lesson that is important for every child to learn as they begin to mature: life has its disappointments! 
3. Santa is the MAN. 'Nuff said!

So parents, on this Christmas Day, 2010, I encourage you...I implore you...do not deny your child the sense of wonder, the feeling of belonging to a Human Race that cares for each other, the sheer joy of believing that yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!

May your life be filled with "Santa Claus Moments."