It's the greatest time of the year! Christmas is here! We all know what that means; extremely busy shopping malls, eating far too many desserts, embarrassing sweaters, presents and wish lists, and of course, SANTA CLAUS! Inevitably, every year child after child eagerly writes santa a letter claiming what an upstanding five year old they have been over the past year and how they, perhaps more than any other child, deserves an iPad and a Wii. Every year parents of these same children must then go out late the night of Thanksgiving, braving the crazed crowds, and fight twelve other moms for that iPad and Wii for their child to open Christmas morning. Of course, these gifts will be labeled "From Santa." After all, if Santa failed to bring these perfect little angels their wished for yet completely age-inappropriate gifts, they would likely be thrown into a complete tizzy. "Mommy, why did Santa bring me a Barbie doll? I told Santa to bring me an iPad!" Let's face it, no parent wants to hear these words of disappointment. Naturally, these children will begin to question Santa if he doesn't give them what they ask for. After all, doesn't Santa have a long list of what every kid wants so he can grant all of their wishes? A parent must be especially diligent to make sure they know exactly what their child wants as to uphold their son or daughter's utmost belief in the man.
Inevitably, once a kid has spent a few years on the playground out at recess they will hear the devastating news: Santa doesn't exist. Quite frequently, this news isn't taken lightly. After all, who wants to hear that the creepy man whose lap they have been sitting on, leaving cookies for, and writing letters to for their entire existence up until now is just a fake?! Talk about devastating. This realization will likely result in tears that last hours, if not days. The holly jolly feelings a child experiences during the holiday season may never be completely restored due to their discovery of deceit.
Eventually, as these children mature, most of this Christmas spirit will be restored, and by the time they are in college, they will likely be able to experience the joy of Christmas once again despite their knowledge that Santa is simply a ploy. With such a long period of emotional recovery, is believing in Santa ever really worth it? Wouldn't Christmas be even more special if parents just skipped the entire "pretending-there-is-a-Santa" stage of their children's life, thus avoiding the "I'm-sorry-I-ever-lied-to-you-about-there-being-a-Santa" stage which may end up being longer than the actual period of belief? Santa simply distracts from the real Christmas story while encouraging deceit and spreading false hopes among innocent children.
