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The Santa Myth
One Mom Shares Her Views on Santa
By Kelly Burgess
"One of my friends is a college English teacher and has her students write an essay every year about their biggest disappointment in life," says Ganster. "It blows her away how many kids write about how disillusioned they were when they found out there was no Santa. Some really express anger at their parents for lying."
Cecilia Tucker is a licensed marriage and family therapist at the Counseling Center for New Direction in Seminole, Fla. She also writes a weekly column for the St. Petersburg Times wherein she collects input from a large selection of teens, then combines it into a first person look at events or life.
Earlier this year, based upon input from her teen panel, she wrote a column on the disappointment of finding out that Santa isn't real from a teen perspective. It's an interesting one because they are a lot closer to the memories of childhood than we parents are. Here is an excerpt from the column:
"Then the magic was taken away. Christmas became like every other holiday ... nothing magical or extra special. I still get stuff, but I am having trouble dismissing the magic. I know now that my parents have to pay for everything I ask for, so I ask for less. When I get up on Christmas morning, I know there will be gifts to unwrap, but the childhood excitement has waned, even though I have a little sister, and I still must believe in Santa around her."
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Re: The Santa Myth by anonymous on 12/22/2009 02:59PM
I have always had a hard time with Santa. I grew up without Christmas for religious reasons, but now I love the holiday and both of my children (5 and 8) believe in Santa. My 8 yr old daughter has been asking me about the tooth fairy and Santa because kids at school are telling her that it is just her parents. I have been turning the question around on her; Do you believe? I tell her I still believe in magic and I hope I always do. I have always wondered if kids felt betrayed for being lied to. I hope my kids don't feel that way.