There’s a picture floating around Facebook that says “May you never be too grown up to search the skies on Christmas Eve.” This led me to the question: what if one day, no one searches the skies at all? I fondly remember looking out my window at night for Santa’s sleigh, listening for jingle bells and going to sleep quickly so he could come to my house. This was only three years ago. As a child, I had so much fun believing in Santa, it would be truly devastating if Santa Claus disappeared from child-culture.
Lately, I’ve heard people debate about Santa Claus, and whether they’ll bother telling their children that he’s real, only to crush their dreams when they turn 12. People say that the Santa Claus tradition is hard on their wallets, that it only brings disappointment, and that it’s difficult to keep up the charade. However, I adamantly believe children need Santa Claus in their lives.
First of all, it’s a nice tradition — to leave out cookies for Santa and oats for the reindeer, then to wake up in the morning and find a bunch of little gifts “from Santa.” It’s nice to go to Christmas parties and jump with glee at the sound of a distant relative shouting “Ho ho ho,” and jingling bells, then sitting on his lap and telling him what you want. How can someone even think to take that joy away from little ones?
The Santa tradition doesn’t have to be expensive. Santa can always send them letters, explaining that his workshop has run out of the expensive toy they asked for. And who said that Santa must bring them a thousand gifts? Giving them just one would reinforce their belief and make them feel grateful, especially if you explain to them that Santa can’t give every child in the world what they want.
One of the biggest reasons people teach their children to believe in Ol’ Saint Nick is that he promotes good behavior. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so anyone who wants presents is good for goodness sake. Every time a child acts up, it is easy for parents to say, “Remember, Santa’s watching you.”
In times of trouble, it’s easy to be angry, ruin everyone’s fun, to cry, to be selfish. But without fun and happiness, what is the point of the holidays? Santa gives children something to be happy about when their parents are upset and they don’t understand why. Christmas can be rough but kids don’t realize that, nor should they have to.
Kids need something to believe in, whether it’s Santa Claus, fairies, the Easter Bunny, Superman, a deity or fairytales, because believing in something magical will teach them to believe in themselves. Whatever you teach them, teach them to have faith, especially in times of trouble. This Christmas Eve, I will be doing what I do every year: drinking hot chocolate, decorating cookies for the man in the red suit and keeping a close eye on the Santa tracker. I hope that everyone who’s still a child deep down will do the same.