Does Santa Claus exist? the children ask. What to answer this question? To tell the truth and deprive the child of faith in the world of magic or to keep them convinced that the character exists and observes the child's behavior throughout the year? It is best to tell the truth about Santa Claus to a child when he starts to suspect it. How to do this?
It's important to tell your childthe truth about Santa Clausso that they don't feel cheated. If they fail, they may become embittered and "take revenge" on their parents by telling their younger siblings about their discovery.
"My son believed in Mikołaj for a long time. When I finally told him the truth, he was disappointed, and then he would tell his younger children on every occasion that his parents were buying gifts," complains a reader of the magazine "Zdrowie".
How to avoid a similar situation?
When to tell your child that Santa Claus doesn't exist?
Probably the deliberate, programmatic awareness in this regard is not necessary at all. The children themselves relatively quickly begin to suspect that "something is wrong" with this Santa and, for example, they ask their parents various questions ("How will Santa fit all the presents in one bag?").
Parents should allow the child to have these doubts, not lie to them and not support their delusions by force. I know parents who are against telling their children that Santa brings the presents. They argue that the illusions we feed our little ones will eventually lead to disappointment and a loss of trust. When we lie to children, we also force them to give up their own mind, which tells them well that "something's wrong".
This may be an exaggerated attitude, but it certainly doesn't make sense to keep the children under the illusion.
In our culture, however, there is a belief that naive faith has something beautiful, romantic and worth cultivating even in adulthood. These beliefs have religious roots ("faith works miracles") and are based on many movies and modern myths about adults who lose something priceless by losing their naive, childlike faith. Is that so? It's a matter of worldview.
How to tell a child the truth about Santa Claus?
If the child is old enough that his belief in Santa Claus begins to be perceived assomething strange, I would stick to the strategy of asking the child questions and draining doubts, not "revealing the truth".
It sounds better: "What do you think, does Santa Claus really exist and fly in a sleigh?" than "Look, there is no Santa Claus, end, period." It is better for a child to discover the truth on his own than to bring it to him ready-made on a plate. When your son says: "I don't think that Santa is there, because he wouldn't have made it to everyone in one night", you can sum it up with the sentence: "You're a smart boy" and finish the whole thing.
"Zdrowie" monthly