More on Santa...
Dec. 24th, 2005 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
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sophiaserpentia)
I'll be upfront and say that the woman should not have broken the news the way she did.
But, really, it wouldn't've been a problem if these parents hadn't lied to their children. That's one of the first quotes we see - "Why did you lie?" The kid's not mad because the teacher told them Santa isn't real, the kid's mad that her mom lied to her.
This isn't like religion, where your kid comes home crying because somebody told him that he's going to Hell for not being a member of The One True FaithTM. In that case, you can make a clear point that you're not actually lying to your child - you're telling the truth as you know it, just like everyone does. You can point out that nobody really knows (again, unlike Santa). You can have a nice, long, edifying talk. What do you do when the kid accuses you of lying, and you really are?
I'm not opposed to the Santa game when it's a game. When I let Ana push me down, then help me up, I don't think she really believes that she can force me to fall down, nor that I can't get up without her help. That's a game. Or, when I go on a hunt for the tickle-monster, I don't think she really believes in the tickle-monster - it's just another game. So if some other adult were to go up to her and say "Sweetie, there's no tickle-monster", I don't think she'd start crying - I in no way try to act as though it's not a game.
But the whole Santa thing... ugh. It's not just the lie, it's the whole frakkin' conspiracy.
sophiaserpentia)I'll be upfront and say that the woman should not have broken the news the way she did.
But, really, it wouldn't've been a problem if these parents hadn't lied to their children. That's one of the first quotes we see - "Why did you lie?" The kid's not mad because the teacher told them Santa isn't real, the kid's mad that her mom lied to her.
This isn't like religion, where your kid comes home crying because somebody told him that he's going to Hell for not being a member of The One True FaithTM. In that case, you can make a clear point that you're not actually lying to your child - you're telling the truth as you know it, just like everyone does. You can point out that nobody really knows (again, unlike Santa). You can have a nice, long, edifying talk. What do you do when the kid accuses you of lying, and you really are?
I'm not opposed to the Santa game when it's a game. When I let Ana push me down, then help me up, I don't think she really believes that she can force me to fall down, nor that I can't get up without her help. That's a game. Or, when I go on a hunt for the tickle-monster, I don't think she really believes in the tickle-monster - it's just another game. So if some other adult were to go up to her and say "Sweetie, there's no tickle-monster", I don't think she'd start crying - I in no way try to act as though it's not a game.
But the whole Santa thing... ugh. It's not just the lie, it's the whole frakkin' conspiracy.
