The Truth about Santa
December 15, 2009
Along with Christmas comes our jolly old friend. The question that is left with parents is "How do I explain Santa to my kids?" There are many different approaches, and there's much more to it than just what you tell your child now. Does your child's perspective of Santa affect their perspective of other things? Maybe that is stretching it a little too far. Maybe not.
When deciding what to say and how to explain Santa to kids, I think there are a few important questions to consider:
- When and how do I want kids to discover that Santa is not real?
- How can I make sure my kids have fun, without lying to them?
- What are my kids’ friends being told?
- How should I coach my kids to react to their friends who believe something different about Santa?
- What is my child's temperament like? Do they love imaginary play, or are they details-oriented, and always searching for how things REALLY work? (This might affect what information they’re looking for, and how they view the sources that they get information from.
In the end, we're trying to balance the innocent, imaginative fun that kids can have, with the truth. Can a balance be struck?
What do you explain to your kids? Are there more things you consider when deciding how to approach this topic? How do you decide what to tell your kids? What were you told as a kid?
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