The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-12-04, Page 39;it
i�.
;Y
Christmas is the season of peace on Earth
and goodwill toward men, a time for sharing
and bringing out the best in the worst of us.
It is also a time of year parents all across
the country are lying to their children — The
Santa Claus lie.
The Santa Claus lie goes something like
this: A jolly fat man in a red suit is going to
land a herd of reindeer on the roof without
making a sound, squeeze his sizable belly
down a 12 -inch square chimney and leave a
bunch of wonderful goodies, no strings at-
tached. Not only that; but he's going to do all
this without leaving any soot marks on the
carpet.
While it, may sound incredible that a lov-
ing parent would try to pull a fast one like
this on a kid, the facts are that every 4 -year-
old who hears it buys the whole story —
hook, line and sinker.
Relax, Mom and Dad. Even in an age
when you're supposed to tell the kids the ab-
solute truth about everything from sex to
divorce to that speeding ticket you got last
week, the experts say it's perfectly okay to
lay out the Santa lie in all its glory.
That's because, as everyone really knows,
. Santa Claus is not a lie.
"I simply don't consider it a lie," says Dr.
Barbara Korsch, head of the division of
pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Los
Angeles. "It's one of those beautiful myths
we have in our culture."
"Young children have a lot of fantasies,"
Korsch adds. "If it's told in a format where
it's beautiful and magical...then this is an
enhancement to children's lives."
Dr. Morris Green, chairman of the depart-
ment of pediatrics at the Indiana University
Medical Centre, agrees.
The Santa Claus myth, he says, "meets a
need of children and also parents. Santa
Claus is one of those nice, playful, wish -it -
were -true illusions. I think it's a mistake to
raise children without any illusions, because
then it would be a very barren, spartan ex-
istence."
Dr. Joseph Noshpitz, senior attending
child psychiatrist at Children's Hospital in
Washington, D.C., says children are most
receptive to the Santa Claus myth at about
age 3, "when magical things seem very
possible, so very real."
Most children, Noshpitz says, should
believe in Santa until about age 5 to 7,
though many will pretend to believe beyond
that age to perpetuate the fun of the myth or
please parents who get a great deal of joy
from living out the story.
While the experts are all for telling
children about Santa, they also add some
caution about how it should be done in order
to keep it fun and protect the integrity of
parents in the eyes of their children.
"It's possible to lie to a child, but there are
so many ways to explain things to children
that both maintain the value of the story, but
avoid the verity that a myth should not
have," Noshpitz said.
Noshpitz's suggestion for a parent's
Christmas Eve explanation of Santa:
"Tomorrow is the time when the great story
that we have is that Santa Claus comes and
brings presents, and Santa looks like so and
so...and you might show the child a picture.
And if the child says, 'Is it true?' mommy
says, 'It's one of our most important
stories.'
"You don't lie," he continued "but you
preserve it as a story."
A Santa Claus who is exploited "either by
parents or some of that commer-
cialism...can be bad for children,", accor-
ding to Korsch, who dislikes, .the effect on
children of "department stores who present
Santa in a way that is commercial and
tawdry and cheap."
"I don't think the cultural things should be
devalued or belittled," agrees 'Noshpitz.
"They should be treasured. Play the game. "
It's a great game, for both parents and
children."
Green seems to get even closer to the real
truth about Santa Claus: "We never really
abandon the idea as adults thatthere is a
Santa Claus."
But then every parent knows that Santa
Claus is much more than even a myth. Why
else would they fight their way through
screaming throngs for Gobots and Cabbage
Patch dolls or stuff down all those cookies
left on the plate next to the fireplace every
year?
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