Why Our Son Doesn't Believe in Santa

Our son does not know who Santa is. I thought perhaps he had picked up the story of the guy in the red suit at some point, so I asked when we were out shopping last weekend. "Do you see that statue?"

"Yes."

"Who is that man?"

"A man with a beard."

We will avoid the Man With A Beard for yet another year. Now for all of you who are thinking about how terrible we are that we do not tell our children the story of Santa, I would like to share why.

It is not for religious significance, though certainly we could attach morality to it. Instead we believe that Santa is a wonderful story. We read to our son, and our daughter starting this year, about the stories of Christmas ranging from The Grinch to 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We love the magic of these stories and the atmosphere they promote during this most exciting time of the year. Santa is in those stories, but we present him as a story like the others. He is not real. No one is coming down the chimney. We don't leave out cookies and milk.

For starters, I always thought it unfair that Santa got much of the credit for an excellently orchestrated Christmas morning. Parents work to shop and hide gifts and then stay up until the wee hours just for kids to be thankful to some guy they have not met for bringing their gifts. My concern with the scene isn't just the lack of appreciation for Mom and Dad. It's that Mom and Dad don't get any recognition as being able to give to their children. Instead the children must rely on an outside force to get presents.

Second, I don't want my children to behave, or be admonished toward it, during the last quarter of the year because they want nice gifts. They should behave because we all should learn to present ourselves with dignity. I cringe when I hear parents say, "don't do that, or Santa won't bring you any presents."