Have you ever tried to hold yourself awake on Christmas Eve, waiting for the old guy in red with a big white beard to slide down your chimney? When you eventually fall asleep and wake up happy about the stockings filled but sad that you missed the sight of Santa, did you ever doubt if Santa ever actually came by?
In most cultures with the tale of Santa, children tend to be fed with the story of Santa Claus secretly placing gifts on Christmas Eve. Until at a certain point, either the children enter a stage where they are able to notice the lack of realism of the tale of Santa or the parents can no longer work around the logic when being bombarded by a continuous series of questions.
But which approach is better? Should parents maintain the myth until the child outgrows it, or should they be honest and break the fantasy early?
Personally, I believe that either approach can work, as long as it's handled with care and tenderness. Some imagine that if a child is left to explore the truthfulness of the story of Santa on their own, the parents may appear to be dishonest at the moment of discovery. Or if the parents decide to deliver the truth, the kids’ innocence and trust in the dreamy part of the world would be shattered. But truth be told, the average age for a kid to realize the irrationality of Santa is about 7 or 8. At this age, despite not being fully developed intellectually, their relationship with the world and with people in their lives is probably already formed and they are developing a relatively deep understanding of matters. I do not believe a revelation about a myth is going to have much impact on them. Even if there are any abnormal reactions, they are probably a trigger for previously existing issues.
But if Santa is just a harmless mythical figure that briefly enchants children, what is the purpose of fairytales or benevolent lies if one day the truth will come out?
I think that tales and the omission of certain truths to kids unveil more about the intentions of the adults rather than the significance of the truthfulness of the stories. These tales reflect the adults’ desire to protect children from the full weight of life’s complexities, at least for a time. Society seems to have reached a consensus that a child’s innocence should be safeguarded and that their dreams of a magical world should be nurtured. Thus tales and white lies signify the intention of care and protection from adult protectors of children.
Some argue that the sooner we strip away these comforting stories and introduce children to the realities of how the world functions, the more mature they will be and the more prepared they will be for future encounters. Yet, maturity is not necessary when the child is still a toddler. Perhaps one day they will look at the kids around them and realize that their peers had a phase of innocence they were deprived of. That moment of realization, the awareness that they were not as sheltered, not as carefully watched over, can create a frustration more profound than we often imagine.
In conclusion, the decision of whether or not parents reveal the truth about Santa Claus to their children as they grow older is relatively flexible. Yet what matters more is not depriving children of the chance to experience those wonders. Santa Claus is indeed a symbol of childhood wonder that would only last for a few years, yet the children’s memory of being cherished and protected in an innocent, magical world will last a lot longer.
Comments