Tuesday Tyler came home all excited because Santa was going to call him. At first I didn’t understand what he was talking about until he pulled a form from his folder and gave it to me. The form needed to be filled out by parents and then returned to the school. The school then sends the completed forms to an organization that will make calls to kids allegedly from Santa. I am familiar with Santa letters but had never heard of calls from Santa. Since Tyler still believes in Santa I filled out the form and returned it to school on Wednesday. This got me to thinking, “at what age should we tell our kids that there is no Santa per se?”
The past few years I have told Tyler that I have been meeting with Santa along with all the other parents. During these meetings each parent talks with Santa and he checks his list to see if their child has been naughty or nice and if they have been nice then the parent can tell Santa what to bring the child. So far he believes it, hokey as it sounds. I figured this probably would be the year he learned that Santa was not real. I figured some kid in school would tell him the truth but so far it has not happened and I hope I can go at least one more year with him believing in the jolly one.
I decided to check around to see what I could find out about this issue and here’s what I found:
Most kids know by third grade.
Some parents and kids adopt a don’t ask, don’t tell approach and keep the magic going indefinitely.
Some parents refuse to tell their kids about Santa because he’s not the reason we celebrate Christmas.
Other parents say that we teach kids not to lie then we turn around and lie about Santa.
Some parents feel we should not be in a hurry to take away the innocence and magic of childhood and that we should let kids be kids for as long as possible.
When kids do find out about Santa most react positively. When they find out that he is not real they still like the idea of Santa.
Generally speaking before the age of 4 kids can’t really grasp abstract concepts. It’s not until they are around 6 that they begin questioning whether Santa is a real person.
There is no scientific research indicating whether the Santa tale can be helpful or harmful to kids.
It’s a personal choice. Parents have to decide how they will handle the whole concept of Santa.
For me, I have decided to wait until Tyler asks me if Santa is real and then I will tell him the truth. Like some other parents expressed, why ruin the magic of childhood? Let our kids stay kids a little bit longer.
What about you, when did you (do you plan to) tell your kids there is no Santa.
Image by: people.com
See also:
Is Santa Coming To Your House?
Christmas Through A Child’s Eye