One of the things about living in a small community is the newspaper doesn't take itself too seriously. I'm sure the people involved work very hard at what they do, but the fact is that they don't have a lot of valuable news to report. That means that every birth, death and arrest gets reported. It means sometimes we read more about the local township meeting than anyone really finds interesting. But the best part is that sometimes we get to have petty arguments in the "Letters to the Editor" section.
I've got a confession to make. When I get the local paper on Friday afternoons i really only read two things. The first is an article written by a friend of the family. I don't like her one bit, and normally her article has me seething by the first paragraph, but i keep coming back. The other is the letters to the editor section. I skip over the crap about why we need more snowmobile trails or the graffiti at the skate park (isn't that where graffiti is supposed to go?) and scan for the juicy stuff: so and so said this and whatshername did that. It's a guilty pleasure.
Because there are more pages than news, the paper asks a "question on the street" each week...they go around, ask 5 or 6 people a question about some inane topic, and then publish their smiling faces and their dorky on-the-spot answers. A couple weeks ago, they asked "At what age should children be told the truth about Santa Clause?"
This week a couple local parents had their letters featured in the paper. Both were scolding the paper for letting the cat out of the bag with the "question of the week"....their children had read in the paper that there was no Santa and now Christmas was ruined. One mother was angry because her 12 year old (yes, 12 year old!) had just discovered the truth and was crushed.
I normally like to enjoy these petty arguments safely from the sidelines, but this week i couldn't resist. Here's the response i sent to the editor today. He assures me that it will be in next weeks edition.
"Dr. Mr. Editor:
I was surprised, two weeks ago, when not one respondent to your "question of the week" (about when to tell kids the truth about Santa Claus) suggested that perhaps we should avoid lying to children in the first place. Surely that's the most obvious answer.
I was even more shocked last week to see that angry parents dared to berate the shield for *gasp* publishing the truth. One parent even accused you of ruining Christmas and claimed that Santa is "what Christmas is about."
I'm sorry, but Christmas most certainly is NOT about Santa claus.
I fail to understand why seemingly responsible parents (who've surely taught their children not to lie) are comfortable telling their children lies about Santa Claus. And then to get angry when a newspaper inadvertently exposes the truth??? Give me a break.
I have some friends who've taught their children, at the sight of Santa claus figures, to exclaim "big fat liar." As much as this amuses me, i think my friends have missed the point all together. It is not Santa, an innocent storybook character, who is at fault. It is the parents who choose to tell their kids that he is real that are in fact the big fat liars.
Children love to play make believe...there is no need to lie to them about Santa's true identity in order to get them to enjoy the idea of him. There's no harm in pretending that there is a Santa claus, but when your done make sure they know the difference between fact and fiction, and that Christmas isn't about a jolly old man with a bag full of toys -- it's about love sent to earth as a babe in a manger. Merry CHRISTmas"
Please leave a comment, let me know what you think about Santa Claus!
Friday, December 7, 2007
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4 wonderful comments:
Being of German descent, Santa is included in our celebrations. But he only fills the stockings in our house, the presents under the tree are from mom and dad.
It is the spirit of St Nick that we wish to promote along with our Christian beliefs about Christmas. I too do not with for the jolly red elf to be the focus of Christmas.
I am going to agree and disagree with you. I don't want Santa to be the focus of Christmas but I don't see the harm in letting children believe in him. I believe that Santa represents a little part we all have in us or should anyway. The part that wants to give and show appreciation and love to one another. St. Nick was a real person and the Santa that we talk about today is the spirit of who he was. I will encourage Anna (my daughter) to believe in Santa and when she starts to question it I will explain to her just what I said here that Santa is alive in all of us. He is the spirit of giving. She will always know that Jesus is the real reason for Christmas but I don't see the harm in playing and make believe.
I hope you don't mind my disagreeing with you.
Yeah, a twelve-year-old should know by then.
I plan to do what my parents did--tell me that there's no Santa but still do stockings and all that stuff. They also swore me to secrecy about Santa so that I didn't ruin other peoples' Christmas.
They told me that parents told their kids about Santa because they wanted them to have a good Christmas. But my mom was very sad when her parents broke her the news and they wanted to spare me that sadness.
How funny... I, too, read things written by people I do not like even though I KNOW I will be gnashing my teeth and completely powerless to respond.
If the years of trying had produced any children for us, we planned to teach them Santa was make-believe, AND swear them to keep that little nugget to themselves in the company of any little buddies who didn't think so!
We're fairly hardcore about God and the miracle of His gift of Christ to us, so that is naturally the focus of the season. We would hope Santa would pale in comparison like it did for us as kids, but I know how much fun it is to get swept up in a cultural idea, so it's not like we'd ban Santa-shaped cookies or anything.
Thoughtful post! Will be back for more!
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