On Santa Claus

With our child's first Christmas upcoming next year, the Mrs. and I have been talking very much about the tale of Santa Claus and how we will celebrate Christmas with our kids. A little background: she grew up without the incorporation of Santa Claus; I did grow up setting milk and cookies out and getting presents labeled "from Santa".

It is her belief that it is unnecessary and mars the true meaning of the holiday. I concede the latter argument, but not quite the former. She would rather us not give our kids presents from Santa Claus and not spin the yarn with them. Originally her argument stemmed around the foolishness of convincing kids to believe in it and, more importantly, parents lying kids. She doesn't argue along those lines anymore, but they were solid reasons to not incorporate Santa. And I had a lot of trouble arguing my way around the whole "lying to your kids" reasoning. Please don't see my Mrs. as a Scrooge of any sort. There would still be presents under the tree and Christmas would still be very much celebrated in the normal fashion, just without the focus being Santa Claus.

I grew up with Santa Claus incorporated in our Christmas celebration. I grew up every Christmas morning, waking up early, getting the folks out of bed, waiting at the top of the stairs while Dad got the video camera ready and fed the anxiety by taking his time, and then rushing down stairs to see the living room filled with presents. We would then see that Santa had eaten the cookies we left out and left us a scribbled note, a type-written note, or even a video of Mr. Claus playing a computer game (props to Dad for getting a Santa suit that year).

Now I'm older and you would think I've grown out of these rather child-like traditions. However, I recently convinced my family to wait until the Mrs. and I arrive a few days after Christmas and then do the whole wake-up early in the morning thing (of course, now I hear my sister wants to salsa dance and this might not happen. Seriously, who salsa dances during the holidays). So I haven't outgrown it and would like to "pass on the tradition" with my kids. And here's my argument for it.

I concede that the whole Santa thing has gotten out of hand and distracts greatly from the reason for the season. But, in the proper context, it can be a lot of fun. For instance, parents often play make-believe with their kids. From cowboys to pirates to tea parties, these scenes from books and movies and tv are quite often acted out at the imagination of the child -- something the parent loves to foster. So, can't the tale of Santa Claus be done in the same way and still keep the true meaning of Christmas intact? I think so. I think that acting out the "Night Before Christmas" would be a fun thing to do -- using the book as a guide: hanging the stockings with care, leaving food out, seeing the presents in the morning -- all that stuff.

Now as for the whole deluding your child argument. Well, from my memories, when I played cowboys and indians and re-enacted scenes from The Natural, I wished with all my heart it would be real and poured that desire into my acting. But I knew at the end of the day it was just my imagination -- but I still had a lot of fun trying to make it as real as possible. The same could be applied to how my kids then react to the acting out of the poem.

I think then that you are just fostering your child's imagination and, also, keeping your own intact.

Plus, I really want to say: You gotta get up, you gotta get up, you gotta get up, it's Christmas Morning.