writtenbyryan

The strangest discovery I heard was about an 8-year-old boy who was discovering his body. About a week before Christmas, he pretended to go to bed one night but, instead, hid in the closet of a store room that he thought had a little more privacy than his bedroom. His mom came in and went straight for the closet where she found him. He started crying. She thought it was because he'd found the Christmas presents he'd been sitting on and told him the truth about Santa. Then he cried harder.

I think the most bizarre/fun stories were from the people who found out but, for various reasons, didn't reveal that they knew. The lengths that kids would go to keep Santa alive were pretty crazy

Way more often than not, the kids' responses were a reflection of the parent-child relationship. I never once heard anyone say, "I loved my parents, they were generous and kind and hard-working, and then the Santa talk ruined it." Most often, the effect was the intended one. When it went badly, it was many times a hurt child with a strained relationship finding this as a moment to lash out a suddenly vulnerable parent.

Haha! No relation to Ron. It's usually between the ages of 4-10. The oldest who genuinely reported believing was nine.

I didn't encounter anybody like that, exactly. I met a few who were pretending to believe into their teens. One left out milk and cookies for Santa as a freshmen in high school. He was doing it because he wanted to keep his older brothers and sisters coming home from college, keep Santa coming. I have also heard some stories about parents going to great lengths -- i.e. setting up a video camera with "magical" edits. The cool thing about the holidays is that it's ours. We get to pass down a tradition and if parents want to make the extended illusion a part of that, more power to them. But it doesn't mean that their kids will appreciate it or that it'll be repeated. I found that people repeated the traditions that meshed with their partner's and that were attractive to them, not forced.

That's interesting. Maybe a little above my pay grade but kids did this thing when I asked them about Santa where they'd toss in a word or a description or an explanation that was off the regular script. They'd say, "He's fat, wears a red suit, white beard, etc....and he knows what I want." or (as one girl said) "...and he's clean!" They were giving Santa the best traits of their own parents. When I was six, I didn't care about material culture, but I definitely cared that my parents didn't have much money. So, when the man in the red suit faded away, I was left with whatever my extra adjectives had been. I was left with ...he loves me. Which is pretty awesome but I also (selfishly) worried that we didn't have unlimited resources like Santa. Magic is a pretty great one, too, not to get too hokey. If parents aren't so great and it's just been a story, I think those kids are bummed for sure. The mystical element is a big deal tho. I've read studies where pretend play helped kids deal with emotions http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2012/12/the_santa_lie_is_the_big_christmas_con_hurting_our_kids.html