Parent Poll: Santa? Real or Myth?

Photo: Axel Burhrmann on Flickr

The war in Iraq. The economic stimulus plan. Government involvement with health care. These are issues that are inevitably going to stir heated debates. But who would guess that Santa could also spur dissenting opinions?

A Strollerderby blogger posted about non-parental adults spilling the Santa's-not-real beans to kids. It's common for kids to start questioning Santa because of what friends or classmates have said. The Strollerderby blogger, however, was posting about other adults -- teachers, ministers, or other parents -- telling children (that are not their own) that there's no such thing as Santa. Several commenters on the blog post seemed to miss the point entirely. Instead of discussing whether or not it was okay for non-parental adults to dispel the myth, the commenters instead chastised the blogger for letting her kids believe in Santa.

I adopted my son when he was 10, so I've never had a small child in my home. But if I did I'm positive that I would have played along with the Santa story. I remember believing in Santa and flying reindeer... it was part of the fun and magic of Christmas. However, I understand why some families may not want to perpetuate the Santa story as truth. They may be consider it lying to their kids and/or they may worry about their kids being crestfallen when they learn the truth.

But just like we're all entitled to our political opinions, aren't we entitled to our Santa opinions, too? While it's not the job of a non-parental adult to support a belief in Santa, it's certainly not their job to dispel it. And there's really no reason why we can't respect each other's choices. I know that I would have had a Santa-believing household, but I can completely respect another family's choice to not perpetuate the myth.

Update: 88% of ChatterKid readers treat(ed) Santa as if he was real, 12% told their kids that Santa is just a myth.