Virginia, There is a Santa Claus (or is there?)

Thank you 3rd Generation Working Mom for blogging inspiration! I'm getting a little nervous that I might be kicked out of the Baby Fever blog since I've been a delinquent poster. Anyway, here goes.....

'Is Santa Claus a lie?' I suppose that depends on what you consider a lie. I think of Santa Claus as a fib or little white lie, possibly even a secret (see below). I don't really remember believing in Santa Claus, although I'm positive I did at some point. I do, however remember my brother believing in Santa Claus and working out a deal with him once I could no longer keep the secret (here is where I consider it a secret) any longer...if we tell mom and dad you still believe in Santa, they will still buy us presents. So we went with it, for a really long time. In fact, so long that there came a time when my dad sat my brother down and told him Santa didn't exist, then the whole deal came out and my parents got a good laugh.

That being said, I'm not sure I'll shower my (fake) children with gifts from Santa. Yes, they'll get gifts, plenty of them of them from Mom and Dad for Christmas AND Hanukkah, but not from Santa or Hanukkah Harry. I remember thinking that the whole idea of Santa was so silly, of course one man can not fly all around the world in one night giving gifts to all the children while being led by reindeer. I would think, 'who believes that crap?'

When I was a teenager, my grandfather shared stories with me of his childhood Christmases. My grandfather was raised by strict Italian immigrant parents and many of his experiences were those of the old world. He explained to me that when he was a child, Christmas here in the US was very different from Christmas in Italy, where Santa did not exist. When my great grandparents came here they were horrified of the idea of 'telling their children lies' about a fictional man in a red suit. So my grandpa did not know Santa Claus, he got an orange (his own) and a box of chocolates that he had to share with each of his 4 siblings. These gifts were from his parents and they were much appreciated I am told. My favorite part of this is how my grandfather would talk about going to school, and the American children talking about Santa Claus. My grandpa thought they were silly and stupid and made fun of them! For some reason, this story made so much sense to me, and at that time I knew that if I were ever to have children, I would not invite Santa into my home.

Now, I realize this may change if I ever have my own children, I just don't see it happening though. Yes, I'll decorate a Christmas tree and buy presents and all that fun stuff. But why bring some strange man into it? Funny how three generations later, my (make believe) children will blow the whistle on Santa Claus, just as my grandfather did as a child of the 30's.

Disclaimer: I think it's perfectly acceptable for parents to share Santa Claus with their children and I am in no way discrediting this ritual. I'm just expressing my personal thoughts on the subject and realize that I am far from the norm.