Santa

We don't like the idea of lying to our children.  This applies to all aspects of our parenting, but it especially came up recently with the talk of Santa flying through the sky on reindeer.   We don't necessarily have a problem with the idea of Santa, but we've felt no need to mention him.  He's not real, nor is he the reason we celebrate.  I didn't think this would cause any problems.  How could it?  It's not like I told my son about Santa and then proceeded to tell him that Santa wasn't real.  Now that, I could see that bring problematic.  I could just see my all-knowing three-year old prancing around telling other kids they were wrong about Santa.  That would cause an argument or two in the playgroups....  But, like I said, I didn't do that.  I figured we'd just pass by the Holiday season without much mention of the big guy in the red suit.

What I didn't count on was other people talking to my son about Santa.  Boy was I shocked the first time someone asked my son, "So, are you excited about Santa coming?"!  My poor son turned to me with a look of utter confusion and just hid under my legs.  I'm sure he must have thought that person mistook him for someone else--someone else who might have had family visiting....maybe a member of the family named "Santa."  Hmmmm..... maybe something like that.

Then it happened again and again.  Once, while at the checkout at CVS, a woman asked him, "Are you ready for Santa?"  And my son smiled wide with a mischievous grin, "not quite......!"  At that point, I think it had become a game to him.  I finally asked him last night, "who's Santa?"  To this, he had only one reply: "I don't know."

I'm not sure how widespread it is, but at least here in our little town, Santa sure seems to be a big part of the culture.  I hadn't realized that before, but I certainly know it now.  I had a short talk with my son about things people think of when they talk about Santa.  To be honest, I'm not sure that he really cared.  Seems like maybe he just loved all the attention and questions, regardless of whatever the people might have been talking about.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  He is a three year old after all.  What's more important--understanding life, or making sure it revolves around you?