Telling the truth about Santa to children is a struggle for many parents. How can moms and dads do this without ruining the magic or breaking their kids' hearts? How can they say Santa isn't real without ruining Christmas?
Mom Pamela Hayford has an 11-year-old girl who still believes in Santa. She realizes that her daughter will eventually know the truth as she's growing up. Hayford writes, via News-Press, that she might soon have that talk in the same way she told her now 14-year-old son about Santa's existence.
In telling the truth to her children, Hayford tells them that they are already part of the big kids' club and thus, can be trusted with the big secret. But they can let Santa Claus live on by telling the younger kids of his myth and magic. By letting the older kids join the club, so to speak, Hayford breaks the truth to them gently.
In a letter to her curious daughter, mom Martha Brokenbrough revealed that Santa is every person who wants to keep the spirit of Christmas alive. She admits to her that it's mom and dad getting the gifts, but she tells her daughter a wise piece of advice.
"You'll need to be able to believe in the things you can't measure or hold in your hands," the mother wrote, as shared on Parent Society. She wants to emphasize to her daughter that there is power in having faith -- in herself, in her family and friends, and in people in general.
Then there's mom Leslie Rush, whose way of telling her 7-year-old son about Santa has gone viral. She taught him that he's his own Santa Claus and told him to pick a person, who isn't family, whom he could give a gift in secret.
"[Your] heart has grown so much that I think you are ready to become a Santa Claus," Rush told her son, according to the Washington Post. She wanted to show that Christmas is about kindness and consideration for others through Santa.
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Psychologists Dr. Justin Coulson believes that as soon as children wonder and ask if Santa is real then they are ready to know the truth. For some children, this happens around the age of 5 to 7-years-old, he shares on Happy Families.
He suggests to perhaps share the story of Saint Nicholas or discuss Santa in a way that helps the child develop critical thinking. He also advises parents to tell their children that other children's parents might not have told their kids the truth, so they too have to keep it a secret for a while.
