Santa Claus vs. The Tween
Answering questions about Santa Claus.
Cherylyn Feierabend
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Santa Claus vs. The Tween
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It’s Christmastime there’s no need to be afraid. I feel like I should sing! There really is no reason to be afraid of what, you might ask. How about of the question, often asked by pre-teens, or as we now call them, tweens, “Is Santa Claus real?” Before I answer this question, and yes, he is real, you might want to shield the young’ns from this one because I’m going to be talking some serious stuff about the big guy.
Is Santa Real?
My children are too young to start questioning the existence of Santa, but I do have a nephew who is struggling with his belief and we had a conversation about it just before Christmas this year. I’m sure that he’ll also be questioning the existence of other clandestine characters of his lifetime: the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and for those who grew up in my household, the Great Pumpkin.
Santa’s Helpers
If you celebrate any or all of these characters, your kids are certain to come to the eventual realization that you may have had a hand in performing on the characters’ behalf. It’s a very personal decision for parents. You need to take into consideration your beliefs and your children’s personalities. How they handle information can play an important role in how you address the subject. I once had a friend tell me that she felt as though she was lying to her children by letting them believe in the existence of Santa Claus. There are also people I know who can vividly remember the moment at which they learned that Mom and Dad were responsible for filling the stockings on Christmas Eve. Every person is different and if I give you all a cut-and-dried answer for the “Are you Santa?” question, it would probably be the right answer for only a very tiny portion of the population.
Yes, I Do Believe in Santa
The fact that Santa came to visit us every year was amazing to me. I loved every minute of it. I still do. I also love that my children’s faces light up when they see Santa and have their pictures taken with him. They enjoy giving him their wish lists and they understand that he’s always watching and they need to behave. Yes, I’m admittedly guilty of using the “Santa is watching you” technique during the holidays to encourage better behavior from my kids.
How to Delay the “Discovery”
Now that my daughter is getting older, I suspect she’ll be asking about Santa very soon. She’s already asked me why Santa stores his wrapping paper in our garage. I told her that I’m helping him wrap presents since he has so many to deliver. She thinks I’m a very nice mommy for helping Santa this way. I’m sure this will progress into me helping Santa shop for presents and put them under the tree. I hosted a breakfast with Santa at my house this year for my kids’ friends. My older brother was kind enough to play Santa for us. His kids are at the questioning Santa age and were very excited to tell me that they think their dad would be the best Santa, since he’s one of his helpers every year, and they asked me if they could be his elves at the party.
Once a child starts really questioning the existence of Santa, I think deep down they already know the truth. If they are anything like me, then although they know the truth, they just choose to keep believing anyway, because that’s way more fun!
That’s it for now. Thanks for listening.
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