To Lie, or Not to Lie? The Santa Claus Dilema

If you're going to teach your children to believe in God, or even hell, I don't think a 'little white lie' like Santa is going to hurt much.

My belief in Santa Claus is not only some of the best memories of my child hood, but playing Santa for kids now. I LOVE it!

I remember sitting around on Christmas eve, drinking hot chocolate and listneing to christmas stories. The excitment is still real to me. I have passed this on to my kids (now 21 and 22) who still come over for that night.

My joy, once again is being able to relive all of these memories over again with my 4 year old.

In undergrad I took a class called "Experimental Methodology" We had to come up with a study.
Mine was going to be...."The effects of early childhood disillusionment on later adult religiousity"
I was curious to see if there was any statistical validity to the idea that the longer a child believes in Santa, the
greater chance of that child becoming an atheist or agnostic as an adult.

All basically being under the penumbra of the relationship between Santa and God. You know, both being omnipresent, rewarding the good, and not so much for the misbehaved.

The stronger the belief in Santa, the higher the risk for this result I think. The child as they age could view God
as just being a Santa for adults. A child might feel that they were manipulated to "be good" or they wouldn't receive a good reward "present" if any.
As an adult they might be taught that if you didn't "live good" they might not go to heaven, the adult reward.

I believe that the child, now the adult, reached that conclusion subconsciously over time.

So I believe the danger is....a strong belief in Santa, that has been strongly reinforced by a trusted parental figure or figures, for an extended period of time that overlaps the changing cognitive development of a child into a young teen, meaning the time period in which a child starts to question the merits of what they objectively experience of the world around them versus the world that they have been told, and trusted, to be. Every child develops at a different rate of course and there are myrid environmental influences that can accelerate or retard that development.

Bottom line: If you push the Santa thing too far, too long, you might have a challenge in replacing Santa with
God. It doesn't help clarify to the developing brain that both of these guys get a great deal of
attention on the same day each year either.

reply to post by Jnewell33


don't lie to the kid's santa and the rest will end up hurting you as parents in the long run!

do you remember when you found out!

i'll give you a minute!!!!!!!!!!!!

long enough to remember how much you hated your parents for deceiving you!!

kids get to much! xmas is about love and family not kids tearing the house apart with their new toys screaming the house down when a toy you paid over 100$ for breaks and the child blames santa,

and all you can do is bite your lip as your child discards it cause they got it for free off santa
and he will bring more next year no questions asked!

great aworld full of paris hiltons!

great job parents

I don't get why people are willing to allow their kids to believe in Santa Claus, but at the same time discourage belief in Jesus. When the subject of Jesus and God come up, everyone automatically says stuff like they don't exist, and they are make-believe, but with the subject of Santa, those same people say it's okay to encourage children to believe in him. Sorry, but it makes no sense to me.

There really is a Santa. Parents are only concealing that they are the real Santa as long as they can get away with it. So no biggy. What irritates me is we have a Christ story and a Santa story each trying to be the number 1 reason for the season. And I love all the Christian Christmas music, don't get me wrong, some of the best Christmas music ever made has a christian theme behind it. It just seems crazy to have two characters fighting to be the number 1 reason for the season. Jesus and Santa should at least acknowledge one another in the Christmas story instead of pretend the other don't exist.

You have some churches out there saying that Christmas is a Pagan thing and shouldn't be observed by true Christians. I say let the lights shine, let the bells ring, and let the music fill the air, its Christmas once again.

I remember the magic of Christmas and Santa when i was a child. It truly was magical. The whole experience of it--the sounds, smells, sights...all present and alive in me today. I remember the day I found out that mom and dad were Santa. I came downstairs to go to the bathroom at about midnight and they were in the livingroom wrapping like mad. I remember laughing and laughing! They let me stay up and help. But I was going on 12 (yes, 12) and although some of that magic faded out, I had tons of fun helping them buy and wrap the gifts for everyone else the following years. I truly enjoy playing Santa today and watching the joy on my kids' faces when this time of year rolls around.

I am a Christmas elf, I love it and wish I could celebrate all year. It's so much more than all the commercialism, Santa and presents. I hand make a lot of my gifts and ornaments. I bake and make candies and decorate the house until it bursts with lights and music and sweet smells. It isn't just another day in my house. It's an epic event.

I hope my children keep the memories alive in their kids. My three older kids, who know Santa is really mom and dad, are now finding the same joy I did as I got older in buying and giving and decorating and celebrating.

Reality and life in general is harsh and unforgiving, so for me, personally, that short period of time where magic was real and anything was possible was so important and still plays a huge part in my life today.

Don't lie about little thing or they will think you lie about big things like if God is real.

I dont understand why you wouldnt tell your kids about santa. the memories were great for me.


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There is nothing wrong with having Christmas if that tradition is enjoyed but why lie??
The children are the futures adults. Maybe live seems harsh as adults because adults are confused. It is confusion which makes life appear hard. If there was understanding there would be no confusion. Understanding comes from truth.