When do you tell your children about the true nature of Santa?

I was seven or eight years old. It was night time. I remember walking down the long hallway paved in what my foggy memory tells me was as an orange or red-toned linoleum. The opening to the kitchen on my right was separated from the hall by a square rough-hewn beam and a white counter, as seen in the back of this picture:



That's me and my little brother Tom.

The hallway ran straight into a large living room. Lights and classical music streamed through even the smallest openings to the space. There was a faint rustling of paper. I wondered what was going on, thought it sounded interesting, and took a peek into the room. I can't remember if I had to open a door or not to get that peek.

What I saw was my parents putting together Christmas. It was the night before the big day. I had my suspicions about Santa, having heard rumors that he didn't exist, but this confirmed it. It was too embarrassing to confront my parents in the moment. I knew they didn't want me to see what they were doing. In fact, I don't know that I ever verbalized what I saw. Wide-eyed in the darkness, I crept back down the hall and tried to sleep through the excitement about the presents waiting for me.







My parents took the approach of neither confirming nor denying the existence of Santa, even when we were teenagers.



My daughter is now seven and she still believes in Santa. The children understand the true meaning of Christmas, but Santa is still in the picture. He is viewed as someone who helps us celebrate the birth of the Savior.

"Hey Mom!" She declared one day as we were driving to get something to eat.

"What honey?"

"I figured out why Christmas is in December. It's because the nights are so long and it gives Santa more time!"

We had recently discussed the reason why the days are so short in the winter. It's been a hot topic around here, the kids are fascinated by it. In fact, just today, my kindergartner told me that he knew what today was — the day that the nights start getting shorter and it's now winter. He was very confused and disappointed when he looked outside and saw that there wasn't a blanket of snow on the ground. I guess he assumed that's what happens when winter starts! He did, however, get to see the fountain freeze a bit:







That's as close to snow as we've gotten so far. There's still plenty of green blooming things around the yard.



We may not get a white Christmas, but at least we'll have fresh gardenia's. I'm okay with that!

Anyway, my daughter is starting to wonder about the mechanics of how Santa could possibly do what he does. But she still fully believes. In fact, she has a loose tooth and thought it would be so cool if the tooth fairy and Santa could meet.

What I wonder is if I should tell her myself that Santa (and other gift-giving mythical beings) are fictional, or if I should let her discover that on her own. Do I let her be that kid who insists to her friends that Santa is real when they question his existence? I'm leaning toward letting her go through the process of finding out for herself if it's true or not.



I think that learning to discern truth from fiction is a valuable life-skill. Going through the process of studying the facts and the stories and comparing them to her own real-life experiences would be beneficial. Learning to be analytical is good.

At least, those are all the reasons I tell myself. But honestly, I'm simply too chicken to break it to her. I don't want to be the one associated with shattering some of the magic of Christmas!

It would be a tragedy if the Tooth Fairy and Santa could never meet.