Andrew and I agreed that we didn't want to lie to Arianna about Santa Claus. So, we decided to tell her the truth -- that some people like to pretend that Santa is real and it's a lot of fun to pretend. She is totally into pretend play, so she could relate to that explanation.
But then, she saw Santa at the mall, and Santa on the Christmas train, and those little wheels started churning. So I had to explain that some people like to pretend they are Santa because the kids think it's fun. (The first time she saw Santa in the mall, she was petrified -- probably because she wasn't sure if he was real or not.)
Arianna took this line of reasoning one step further and asked, "Do the people who pretend to be Santa, pretend to be Santa on Christmas?" I knew what she was getting at. She wanted to know if one of those pretend Santas would be coming down our chimney on Christmas Eve or not. So, I told her, "No. Mommies and Daddies have to pretend to be Santa on Christmas Eve and they bring the presents. But we can pretend that some of the presents are from Santa and it'll be fun to pretend, if you want to."
I got a kick out of her thinking on the Santa Debate and wanted to share it with you. The young mind is just amazing to watch asa it develops!
Rebecca Wolf