Isn't it ironic that we constantly lie to our kids and yet we teach them not to lie? That's a little backwards, no?
And by lying to our kids I mean telling them about Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy. It has always confused me since I was a tween. I remember this day vividly!
We were having a Christmas party for my friends and family and there was a bunch of kids over. I was in the living room looking outside and I saw one of my dad's friends get out of his car in a Santa suit and then put on the hat and white beard and get a red bag out his trunk. I remember stating outload to my dad that Mr. SoAndSo was here and he hushed me. Then that man came into our house and preceded to pretend to be Santa and give us all kids presents. I kept my mouth shut but was so confused by it. I must have been 7 years old or so.
At the time I didn't think my parents were lying to me but I just knew it was weird that this man I knew was pretending to be Santa. Eventually my parents had "the talk" with me that Santa wasn't real and all that. I obviously wasn't surprised. But I think it opened my eyes more. I know the reason parents give to telling their kids about Santa. It's a cute tradition, It can help keep kids in line around the season. But isn't that all wrong and just bad parenting? Lying to your kids to get them to behave is just bad parenting. I knew growing up that when I became a dad I wouldn't lie to my kids about that stuff.
Well I got married and had kids and they believe in Santa. The problem I have is that I don't trust my little ones to not tell their friends that Santa isn't real or the Tooth Fairy is fake and so on. Could you imagine if all my kids classmates went home and told their parents that my kid says So and So doesn't exist.
Kid's aren't stupid, they have done the very simple math that there is no way Santa could get to every house in the world in 1 night. Well then us parents started to lie more about how quick Santa is and time zones and all that crap. WHY? Why do we keep lying straight to their faces?
If our kids come to us and tell us a bold face lie we get pissed. We teach our kids not to lie but we willingly lie to their faces over things that A) doesn't protect them from anything, B) they are not too young to understand C) has no reason to lie about.
And the Tooth Fairy is just a stupid creation. It serves absolutely no purpose except to tell our kids some creepy being sneaks into our house at night without anyone seeing them and takes their tooth and leaves them money. Instead when our kids loose a tooth we could just give them a buck and call it day.
Oh and kids, don't talk to strangers but accept gifts from strangers every year (Tooth Fairy, Santa, Easter Bunny). It is so broken and backwards on so many levels.
With all this being said I still want the record to reflect that I love Christmas time. I love the fresh snow, the lights, the feels you get around the time. But why does it have to be built on lies?
