To Believe or Not to Believe, that is the question!

There is so much magic in the air during the holiday season -- before the merchants try to capitalize on it, and everyone tries to cash in on it!  The real magic becomes illusive.Our children naturally think magically.  Since they are not as knowledgeable and as experienced as we are with reality and scientific facts, many things about daily life are magical to them.  So it is only logical that the concept of Santa is totally believable.Here’s where the controversy comes in.On the one hand it is fun to pretend along with them that the magical creature of commercialization, Santa, is a benign god-like being who is generous to a fault and will shower them with presents.On the other hand, why should Santa get all the credit for the joy that pours forth in the wonder and excitement of Christmas morning?And what about our poor children of faiths other than Christian?  Why can’t they have Santa too?Keep up with me here, the questions get harder.Will it ever be kosher to let all children participate in Santa's magic?What about the mean Santa that won’t come unless everyone is good?  Or the threatening Santa, “Don’t do this or Santa won’t come?”And the worst, ultimately unavoidable question: what about the cruel disillusionment when someone, inadvertently or not, spills the beans and says, “There is no Santa, it is your parents who buy you the gifts”?My approach for navigating through these dangerous waters was to “pretend” about Santa along with my children – but to say that I was pretending.  I explained that Santa was sort of like Mickey Mouse.  He definitely exists, but more in the sense of a mythical creature that everyone liked to make up stories about.This approach seemed to work really well for me for my oldest daughter, who believed in Santa in spite of my efforts, but then, when she began to outgrow Santa, she already knew the true story.  Unfortunately, by the fourth child, there was so much input from her siblings, their friends and her cousins that it was hard to control the propaganda.In the end, like everything about childrearing, you have to decide what kind of magic works for you, and then be vigilant about protecting that magic in your child’s life.  So now dash away, dash away all, and go have some fun with your kids!I love reaffirming the magic that is in our hearts and hope that this holiday season elicits that magic in you and yours.