Should parents tell the truth about Santa Claus?

"Is Santa Claus Real?" 

Many parents wonder if it is okay to let your children believe in Santa Claus. According to child psychologist Bruce Henderson, it is not necessary to let the kids experience reality by telling the truth about who has really been putting the presents under the tree. When I was little my parents told me there is no such thing as Santa Claus. They never actually allowed us to believe in any of the childhood fantasy figures. So I never believed in Santa Claus.  I am sure that I still acted and lived like any other kids from school and I don't think I ever had any problem getting along with other kids who actually believed in Santa Claus. Just like any other kids were, I was always excited for Christmas. My brother, who also did not believe in any of the childhood fantasy figures, told me that dad would just give him money when he tried to put a tooth under the pillow. I asked my parents why they did not let us believe in Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, or The Tooth Fairy and they said they did not want to make us believe in things that aren't real.  So instead of telling me and my brother to wait for presents that Santa Claus is going to leave under the tree, my parents prepared the Christmas presents for us.  But I personally think it would have been better not knowing the truth about Santa Claus.  I'm not saying that the way my parents raised us is wrong but I'm thinking about letting my kids believe in Santa Claus because I think children should believe in Santa Claus so kids could be kids. 

 Even though the impact that these imaginary figures have on kids are all different, I can say that I was a little bit colder than my friends.  My older cousins also said that I did not act age appropriate when I was still childish in different ways. Many parents worry about deceiving their kids so they struggle to decide whether they should tell the real story or the myth about the imaginary figures. I can't say that teaching the children about deception, as parents are encouraging the children to believe in a lie, is always a good way to start but at some point children will naturally find out the truth about it and be disappointed.  And disappointment is something children will need to learn eventually, which is better for them to start learning with a disappointment that is not as serious as the disappointments that they will experience in the future.

Parents should let their children believe in Santa Claus and any other imaginary figures. Kids should be kids for how ever amount of time that they are given to enjoy being kids. They will eventually find out the truth about their imaginary figures and they will have to face the reality soon.  So until then, kids deserve to live in their own little imaginary world and get ready to find out the truth about everything in this world.