To Santa or not to Santa, that’s the latest internet debate

Much to my (and more so my mom’s) dismay, I was told there was no such thing as Santa Claus when I was 6 years old, coming home from a sleepover at a girlfriend’s house. I remember driving home and my “friend” said, “Oh, didn’t you know? Santa Claus isn’t real, it’s just your parents.” I remember her mom cringing but not correcting her, and the first thing I said to my mom when we got through the door when they dropped me off was, “Jennifer told me Santa isn’t real.” 

“It’s just you and dad,” I accused my mom with tears in my eyes.

The look on my mom’s face could have killed someone, and I know she wanted to kill my friend and her mom. I think she seriously contemplated it and my friend and her mom knew it, so they quickly made their exit.

My friend’s mom said, “Yeah, Jennifer sort of spilled the beans, sorry about that!” And they ran to their van.

To this day, my mom still has a vendetta against that friend, and she always refers to her as “That Grinch friend who stole Christmas from us,” but apparently there’s an internet debate going on right now about whether or not to include Santa in Christmas festivities. Will you be a “Santa house” or not? 

While I did cry, I think it was from shock and not anger. I wasn’t completely mad at my parents, and they were able to string together some lies that Jennifer only got presents from her parents (and not Santa) because she was “naughty.” I believed until I was about 8, and I was never angry at them. In fact, I appreciated their efforts to make Christmas magical and I enjoyed the anticipation and traditions like baking cookies “for Santa” and leaving out carrots for the reindeer. 

My dad also called me as Santa Claus every year from his work phone and used antique bells in the background while he told me he loved me and he hoped I had a Merry Christmas.

But some parents are saying they don’t want to “lie” to their kids and it’s going viral on social media. 

Of course, everyone has an opinion, but some TikTokers are louder than others. Matt Krueger who is a “cash flow coach” took to his TikTok and shared that he isn’t doing Santa with his kids, and his video went viral. 

He said his kids were still incredibly excited about Christmas because, “It’s Jesus’ birthday.”

He explained that when he was a kid, he was devastated when he found out Santa wasn’t real, because he left presents out for him and then later found them in his mom’s closet. And she tried to lie about it. Then it had him doubting the honesty of his parents, and then wondering about what else wasn’t true. Like if God was real.

His thought was if grownups were going to all these great lengths to keep up a lie about Santa, then what else are they lying about? What about the other guy people celebrate during Christmas? Is he fake, too?

In the comment, it looked like many people agreed with him, and that Santa shouldn’t be the “real reason for the season,” while others said there could be both. And a few saying that he was robbing his kids of one of the best parts of childhood.

Many parents are taking Jesus out of the debate and saying that they simply don’t want to lie to their children and they think it’s creepy that some man is watching their every move to make sure they’re “good.”

While I can see this argument, I was never told I had to be “good” because Santa was “watching me” and I honestly didn’t know many other kids where that was the case in our circle of friends. 

And my husband and I are doing Santa with our son without the behavioral aspect as well. It’s not to keep him in line, but because it’s fun and magical to think of someone bringing presents to kids. It’s nice to think of someone doing something nice for others every year in the spirit of Christmas, and expecting nothing in return. It’s fun to see my son’s face light up on Christmas morning. 

And my Dad still has those bells and he calls my son every Christmas eve and we have a blast baking cookies “for Santa” and leaving them out with carrots for the reindeer. And my husband and I enjoy nibbling the cookies and leaving a little behind, and writing our son a note telling him how much Santa loves him and he hopes he has a magical Christmas. 

It makes Christmas magical for us, too, and in this day and age, I think we could all use a little magic and fun no matter how old we are.