believing in Santa Claus. I really believe it was college but it was a long time since she told me the story.

My sister was her roommate at BYU. So, I learned about it when this girl, a friend of our family, was in college.

Essentially she had treated Santa Claus just like Jesus. Something you had to take on faith. Something that sounded irrational to a lot of people, and a lot of people denied. The way she tells the story, she felt that not believing in Santa Claus would be akin to not believing in Jesus Christ or at a minimum not honoring her parents. Her parents kept on telling her Santa was real because they didn't want to be the ones to tell her Santa was not real. Her parents thought her believing in Santa Claus was cute. So one day she is an older teenager (either in college or late high school) and her friends just mock her mercilessly for still believing in Santa Claus. She stands up for it, because she feels she is standing up for her parents (and possibly her testimony of Santa Claus). She calls her parents crying, explaining what had happened. Her parents STILL stand up for Santa Claus. They are trying to preserve THEIR magic of their daughter's misunderstanding.

This isn't a joke. I laugh when I tell the story and I laughed when I heard the story. And we laugh about it now. She no longer believes in Santa Claus.

But when I heard this story for the first time I kind of decided I was never going to participate in the perpetuation of the santa claus myth with my kids. My wife does and I let her, but I never tell my kids Santa gives them presents, I never threaten them with Santa, if they ask me a question my wife either jumps in or I answer honestly.

I just believe if your kids are old enough to ask questions they are old enough to know the truth, and they are also able to still enjoy the magic of Christmas while understanding the truth. If I can do this as an adult they can do this as kids.

Anyway, just my thoughts.