From the Past: December 6, 2003

This news article tells about how a first grade teacher in Florida convinced her class that there was no Santa Claus: https://www.sfgate.com/education/article/1st-Grade-Santa-Lesson-Upsets-Parents-2547294.php

In our house, our kids have never believed in Santa Claus. The kids have always known that we buy them their gifts. We feel that we are the ones who work hard for the money and they should know this; they should know that we spent hours carefully selecting each gift and wrapped it just for them because we love them. Why would we want to give that credit to someone else? I do not, however, condone what this teacher did. Yes, it made for a good discussion, but it wasn’t appropriate, especially with first graders.

I have stressed to my kids that they are not to tell anyone the truth. Andrew no longer has this problem since he is older, but Ashley struggles with it. I can tell that she hates lying, but she has to or the conversation will turn ugly and she knows it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with children believing, but it was better for us this way. Unlike the teacher in this article, I would never reveal anything to anyone else’s child. I play right along.

Ho! Ho! Ho!