I had found an enticing article entitled, “Why Kids Believe in Santa Claus (And Why That’s Okay)” by Vanessa LaBue, Ph.D. This article talks about how children believing in Santa Claus isn’t a bad thing. There are many objections to parents lying to their children for so many years. Some people believe that the children will grow up to distrust their parents, and to never be able to decipher the truth. They say that this constant lie of a made up Christmas figure isn’t good for a child’s developmental period because when they find out the truth it’ll crush them. However, the author, Vanessa LaBue fights that notion by saying children believing in Santa Claus isn’t a bad thing.

Children, in general, have a creative and imaginative side to them from the ages of 5-7, and Santa Claus is just one of the things they believe in. For a child to believe in Santa Claus, it just shows their imaginative side and their belief in the Christmas season. LaBue said that children usually find out the truth about Santa Claus around the age of 7, and they are usually positive about the truth. It is perfectly normal and actually very good to believe in Santa Claus. Even though some people think that lying to your children about Santa Claus will mess up your child’s developmental growth, there is no evidence backing that notion. The author, LaBue, had a positive story about believing in Santa Claus and how it helped her have magic in her life. She’s now experiencing the Christmas magic for the first time again in 25 years because of her children.

I really loved reading this article because it gave me flashbacks to my childhood and all of the years that I spent believing in Santa Claus. I used to love baking cookies every Christmas with my mom for hours and leaving them out on the living room table for Santa to come and eat them. When I’d wake up on Christmas morning, I would see the plate of cookies empty alongside the glass of milk. When I was a child, it was the most magical thing in the world to believe in Santa Claus.

A Christmas family tradition of ours is to watch a few Christmas movies on Christmas Eve before midnight, and then we’d go to sleep. I remember waiting patiently in my bed for Santa Claus to deliver my presents. My parents made everything they did around the house very believable. They left black boots next to the entrance of the house and told us that Santa left them at our house. Whenever I saw those boots, it made me jump up with so much joy because Santa Claus was at my house! My parents used to tell me that Santa was their best friend and could contact them. I remember the few times I would "speak" to Santa on the phone, only to discover later on that it was my father.

I have nothing but positive stories of my belief in Santa Claus and I wasn’t mad that my parents “lied” to me about the mystical being.

I think it is very vital for children to believe in something such as Santa Claus. I wasn’t angry or upset at my parents, but I was upset that Santa wasn’t real. Even though I found out the truth that my parents were the Santa Claus in our home for so many years, I’m thankful that they did all of the cute and beautiful things that they did because it made me love Christmas so much more.