Children and Father Christmas.

Or Santa? (Is that an Americanism?)

When you think back to your first experiences of Christmas, do you really think they would have been improved if your parents had been honest about him? Without that sweet embellishment, there would be no ritual of writing to him, of leaving out sherry and mince pies, of waiting desperately to see if “he’s been” on Christmas morning.

Without the Santa myth, what would Christmas for the average child even be? An arbitrary date when they are finally allowed to play with presents their parents maybe bought weeks in advance. What would be the point?

This also bears on the question of to what extent one ought to be honest with one’s children in general. What, after all, would being “fully honest” really mean?

What do you think?