Posted on Tue, Dec 22, 2009 : 10:47 a.m.
Poll: Do you encourage your kids to believe in Santa?
By Jen Eyer
Parenting contributor and local psychoanalyst Kerry Kelly Novick has a column today about the sometimes-contentious issue of whether parents should encourage their children to believe in Santa.
She writes, in part:
"There is a crucial difference, to my mind, between sharing values and beliefs of your own with your children, as you do with religion or morality, and telling them something is true that you don’t actually believe. If you believe in Santa Claus too, then you aren’t lying to your child. If you don’t believe in Santa Claus, and say that he is real, you are lying to your child. I’ve stated this bluntly, for the sake of the logic of the situation, but I do have a solution to suggest that is based in the history of the Santa Claus idea."
What do you think? Take the poll!
Comments
MjC
Fri, Jan 1, 2010 : 12:28 p.m.
I've always told my kids - when you stop believing in Santa, Santa stops coming. They're in their 20's and they still believe and the old guy still leaves something under the tree when they come home to visit.
Kerry Novick
Wed, Dec 23, 2009 : 9:34 p.m.
Dear enthusiastic and thoughtful readers, What a lot of interesting and insightful comments! It sure does seem that everyone has an opinion and strong feelings about Santa. There is a parallel discussion today at nytimes.com/roomfordebate. Check it out - many of the posts echo those put up here, and there are commentaries by experts from various fields.