My kids were homeschooled, and from the time they were infants we never promoted the Santa Claus myth. Our children though still believed in him. One day after telling my daughter that Santa was pretend she **insisted**, “Yes! He is real!” When I asked her how she knew this she said, “Allen told me!” ( Allen was also 4.)
The following Christmas season my daughter found wrapped presents in our bedroom closet. She stood in the hall, arms akimbo, and declared, “Mom, you are **right**! There is no Santa Claus! You have **never** lied to me!”
This sentence, “You have never lied to me!” , became a family motto. When my husband and I seriously wanted to impress on them that we were giving them our best advice, with a wink of the eye, we would remind them that we never lied to them about Santa Claus or anything else.
“This sentence, “You have never lied to me!” , became a family motto. When my husband and I seriously wanted to impress on them that we were giving them our best advice, with a wink of the eye, we would remind them that we never lied to them about Santa Claus or anything else.”
I’ve heard this attitude promoted before. I think that’s fine if some folks choose to raise their children this way. Personally, I think it’s ridiculous that anyone would consider Santa Claus to be a “lie”. That is just so to X-power for me!!
I’ve found that parents that are overly strident in this area of their childrens’ lives are often overly strident in others, as well, and I don’t believe that it’s particularly healthy.
Of course, the same could probably, and has probably been said about my wife and I. I’m certain that people think that we are weird because we either send our children to a religious school, or because we do not have TV or because our kids don’t have gameboys and DSs, as other children their age do. They don’t know it and they don’t miss it.
I’ve had this debate before ~ it goes in a circle and never meets in the middle. I’m sure the path you have chosen for your children is fine. As I am as certain that my children will not begin to question my honesty when they are older because I have “lied” to them and promoted the “myth” of Santa Claus.