The magical time of Christmas is here! Children have already started preparing wish lists for their beloved Santa Claus. It is a happy sight when they keep milk and cookies at night for Santa so that he doesn't go hungry while getting presents for them. But sadly, the kids have to know the truth of Santa soemday.
Parents find it difficult to answer when their children ask whether Santa is real or not.
According to PsychCentral, parents must think about the age of their children before telling them the truth about Santa. For instance, a 10-year-old knows he/she will be snubbed by peers if he says Santa is real. But, it isn't the same case with a 4-year-old kid, who has immense faith in St Nicholas' existence. If said anything against his Santa, the kid might get into a fight with others. For many children between the ages 3 and 6, the only goal in life is to visit the North Pole, Santa's residence. So, it is important to understand when to tell your kids about the reality.
In an interesting letter written by a mother to her young daughter, she beautifully describes the importance of Santa. "Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us have lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to have belief in something they can't see or touch," wrote Martha Brockenbrough. Describing Santa as "love, magic, hope and happiness," she went on, "Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student, and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve: he has help from all the people whose hearts he's filled with joy."
According to LiveScience, children between the ages 3 and 7 do not think logically and rather like to dwell in the magical world of their own. This makes them more convinced that Santa is real. "Fantasy belief and Santa are an outgrowth of these magical beliefs, but they are driven much more by cultural support for these kinds of things," Karl Rosengren, a cognitive psychologist at Northwestern University told LiveScience. "There's no way a child would come up with Santa all on his own."
But children above 8, begin thinking logically and question Santa's existence. In fact, they will know that whatever "magic" happened was because of their parents. "There's always going to be one kid who was taught not to believe, he'll say 'There is no Santa, my parents say there's no Santa," said Jared Durtschi, a professor of marriage and family therapy at Kansas State University."That doesn't make sense. It actually makes more sense that it could be mom," he told LiveScience.
At the end, age does not matter. After all there is no harm in thinking that Santa is watching us. All he teaches us is to be compassionate and helpful. Is it wrong?
