The Santa Dilemma
More and more these days I hear people talking about not wanting to tell their children that Santa is real; that it’s not right to lie to them and that they want their children to have their feet solidly planted in the REAL world. Why do we perpetuate this fantasy of a jolly old elf in a red suit that flies around the planet giving gifts and spreading good cheer? SHOULD we retain the tradition that is Santa Claus? I believe that with technology and social media each generation may be becoming more and more jaded. They want everything quick and easy. Everything is available at a keystroke and there is nothing sacred anymore and it compounds with each generation and every new technological advance. When my children were little, I used to go to great lengths to make them believe that Santa and Rudolph were real, that there was a MAGIC to Christmas that transcended everything else. I wanted to pass on to them a little of the mystery and magic that I still held in my heart from when I was child. That spark of magic should be encouraged and fed and passed forward, not doused with the grim cascade of reality. Children learn soon enough about the real world and how to deal with it in due time. Encourage their imaginations; tell them there are fairy folk living in the forests and that Dinosaurs still roam the earth; tell them that, yes, Santa is real and that Reindeers do fly. Tell them that there is still magic in the world!
Of course Santa Claus is REAL! Who else is gonna bring me a shiny new sparkly thingamajig that so and so was wearing on their… on one of those shows on t.v… that I saw on Facebook… 😛 Yes, I believe in Santa Claus because in all honesty it is the feeling that Santa Claus and his Christmas magic gives me that I treasure above all else. Oh, and lights, I love the lights. They are the only sparkle I need <3 As always a great job Jim
I’m with you on everything you said 🙂
Santa Claus may not be real in the flesh and blood sense, but he is real in the same way hope and joy and love are real. These things although immaterial and immesureable concepts can inspire us to greatness, to be better then we are, and shield us against any hardship or darkness we may face. That is true Magic, and as a symbol of these concepts, Santa Claus is more powerful then anyone of mere flesh and blood could be.
Besides all that, NATO tracks him on radar every year.
Beautifully put, balthazar!
As Frank Church so aptly put it in his New York Sun op-ed piece from 1897,
“No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.”
I love playing along with the whole Santa Clause thing. For me, the trick is to find a balance to keep it wholesome and in spirit of the Holidays. I like seeing which kids and when begin to understand the difference between Santa as a flesh-and-blood being and Santa as more of a spiritual concept. As an “adult” (so some people laughingly refer to me), I feel it’s something of a duty on my part to mentor children at this stage into playing along while being able to step back and not get caught up in the gross stupidity and greed of the commercial aspect of the season. One of my favorite life moments was when my eldest niece ‘caught on,’ and yet seamlessly stepped into the role of not spoiling it for her younger sister. That was really beautiful.
By the way, subtext for panel #1 there. Sonya in more or less the same stance, but with a 7 foot candy cane, cracking it against the floor until the peppermint sparks and intoning “NONE SHALL PASS!
But, since her persona is a barbarian warrioress & not a wizard, using one as a mêlée weapon would, technically, be more appropriate. And, yeah. I DO like her in that elf costume. Seems to raise my Holiday spirit somewhat. 😉 😆
You get it, 3X and it looks like your niece understood as well. It’s not a bad thing to instill a little magic in a childs heart and to keep it alive in your own.
Glad you like Sonya’s Holiday outfit 🙂