Christmas lies.
@kitttenskysong (676)
United States
December 26, 2008 6:53pm CST
So another Christmas has come and gone, and once again as I do every year I wonder about the lies we tell our children. I'm not talking about the birth of The Christian Savior or the fact we tell them its better to give than to recive
I'm talking about Santa clause. When i have kids I will tell them the truth Santa doesn't exsist. They will have presents under the tree from me and their father ( if he's in the picture) I will teach them about the spirit of giving and how we are all Santa, but I will not tell them thier is a little man with 8 or nine flying reinder or come up with excuses when they ask questions about him.
In short I refuse to lie.
1 response
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
27 Dec 08
There are more serious things in life to worry about than allowing your child to experience the awe and magic of Santa on Christmas morning. I do understand the difference between the two versions of Christmas...celebrating the birth of Christ and Santa...and I also understand the difference between Little Johnny, whose parents told him the truth from the start, robbing him of a childhood experience most children are allowed to enjoy, and all of the other kids in school who will not like him, will make fun of him and may even be down right mean to him, because he challanges their beliefs. Why would you want to do something like that to your own child over something as simple as Santa?
I also have to wonder. If your child comes to you with a picture or craft he made that really wasn't that good, would you tell him the truth...that he got glue smudges all over the place, that the lines were crooked and that it really wasn't in such great taste...or would you lie? Sometimes we lie to avoid hurting someone we love. I don't know of one case where believing in Santa hurt a child.
@kitttenskysong (676)
• United States
27 Dec 08
I would praise his effort and hang it on the wall. I would tell him it didn't matter if it was perfect what mattered was the thought behind it.
Not be hurt by a such a huge lie as Santa? I was ten years old when I found out my mother, who preached THOU SHALT NOT LIE had been lying to me my whole life. I was hurt! I will NEVER do that to a child ever.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
27 Dec 08
So, if he...or she...asked you if it was pretty, would you lie? Because that's what children do, they run up to you with what to them is a treasure, something beautiful and wonderful, and they WILL ask whether you think it is, too. When faced with the choice between being totally honest and hurting your child, which will you choose? Your mother, who preached THOU SHALT NOT LIE also loved you and wanted you to experience the magic of Christmas with Santa. I understand the disappointment...I felt the same thing when I found the tooth the Tooth Fairy had just taken in my mother's bathrobe pocket one day when I was home from school sick and realized that I had been lied to. I was hurt when I realized...at the appropriate age...that Santa couldn't possibly exist but I wasn't hurt. Maybe it was because I had younger siblings and I was able to watch their excitement on Christmas morning even though I knew the truth.
Look, I don't know you and I'm definitely not judging you but, when you become a parent, your role is to do what's in the best interest of your child. If that includes telling little white lies so you don't hurt the feelings of a four year old, or if it includes participating in the mass Santa conspiracy so that your child can experience the same joy and sense of magic that you enjoyed for ten years...and so he/she won't become an outcast at such a tender age...that's what you do. Trust me, if your child comes home crying because all of the other kids make fun of him/her for not believing and no one wants to be his/her friend...you will experience an entirely new kind of hurt...and it's a big one.
