Should We Lie About Santa?

We’re officially in December, our tree is up, our stockings are hung, and presents lie under the tree with:

To: Pia,
From: uhhh… ?

I never really thought about the controversy of Santa, the tooth fairy, Halloween and the Easter bunny until I married Matthew and we had a little one of our own. We were raised completely opposite, Matthew & I. We would of course go to church every Christmas morning but we had Santa, stockings, and a 7+ foot Christmas tree decorated to the nines. Where as Matthew had the Christmas tree and presents, but no Santa… it was all about Jesus. Now Pia being 7 months old, we have some time to decide but we are both very torn on what to do; so we made a list…

Reasons To Let Santa Be:

I attribute my brother and I’s creative juices to my mom and her wild imagination every holiday to dream, become, imagine, and curate what our minds desired. Believing God living within us takes quite a bit of imagination and belief in itself so to open our kids minds to see more beyond what the eye sees sounds like a win to me.
You really can’t control what kids say these days. Not only could our little girl be one of the few who won’t talk about Santa and their surprises in their stockings, but she may be the one spoiling it for all the other kids.
Anticipating Christmas makes it more special. The Santa’s lap picture and Christmas cards to grandma, the matching pajamas and the baking of cookies the night before builds up excitement for a little kid. Not to mention that cute little “Elf on the Shelf” idea parents are getting INCREDIBLY creative with now (Some of you deserve a freaking Golden Globe for these Elf on The Shelf ideas).
Also, the gift of giving could be ingrained in your child during this holiday more than any other.

Reasons To Kill The Santa:

(the idea, not literally)

Lying to our child. This is one of Matthew’s biggest con’s. We just anxiously wait for the inevitable day where she finds out we’ve been maliciously instilling a made up old chubby guy in her mind this whole time? Which could consequently make her wonder what else we’ve been lying about; in turn, causing her to rebel and never listen to us ever again. (okay, so the last part is a little dramatic). I honestly remember my parents poorly portraying Santa to the point where we’d play along but we’d know (sorry mom). So maybe that’s the trick, so it’s not overly melodramatic for kiddos to find out Santa isn’t real.
The potential that Santa becomes bigger than Jesus. The importance of this day is understood, despite Jesus not ACTUALLY being born on December 25th, but I digress. To a child, Jesus can be lost in the powerful marketing forces and commercialized Christmas all around us.
Santa taking the credit for Mommy & Daddy’s gifts. Ok ok… so it’s not that big of a deal for us to put “From Santa” on one or two gifts, but this is not the case for some parents! The way I look at it, is if we can’t afford something for Pia, she’s going to ask Santa. And little does she know, Santa cannot afford if we can’t afford it… so…

I love hearing what other parents say. My friend told me her version of the tooth fairy growing up was throwing their teeth to the rat living on the roof or else your tooth won’t grow back. I’m serious, I can’t make that up. But just goes to show you, everyone’s way of parenting is different. We’re thinking of winging it and doing a blended version of Matthew & I’s upbringing and I guess we’ll find out what happens!