Why Lie?

The tale of Santa Claus has been widely used in the United States and in many other countries worldwide and it is passed down generation after generation because of the great memories it brings parents of their childhoods believing in the existence of such figure.

Some say that if children believe in Santa, Tooth Fairy, or any other nonexistent creature, it will help them use and develop their imagination skills. The thing is, children use their imagination regardless if parents tell them about these fictional characters. Instead, many others believe that it harms kids because once they find out, they will feel like they cannot trust their parents anymore, they have been deceived by the people that they thought would never lie, hurt, or disappoint them. On the other hand, psychologists state that lying to children about such imaginary figures do not benefit or harm children in any way. 

Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Growing up in Ecuador, where Christmas celebrations are very different from the ones in the U.S., I do not recall any memories of my parents seriously lying to me or my younger sister about this old, fat, bearded man who is nice enough to reward kids from all around the world if they behaved as best as they can through the entirety of the year. As the years go by, the people from Ecuador take different beliefs and celebrations from different countries and start to incorporate them with our original ways of celebrations. Same has happened with the Santa Claus myth. The main reason why this has happened is just to improve sales and boost the economy, but I am pretty sure that not many Ecuadorian parents actually make their kids believe that Santa brings gifts and that they should leave cookies for Santa and that he will come down the chimney (maybe because almost nobody has chimneys in their houses due to the great weather throughout the country). Ecuadorian children do not open gifts on the morning of the 25^th, we open gifts at midnight (cheers for not having to wait all night long!), when the whole family is celebrating the gathering and the loving atmosphere. Most Ecuadorian children know that their parents are the ones that get them presents, we just do not know what we are getting.

 Good thing that not deceiving children about Santa does not harm kids, otherwise we Ecuadorians and many others from different countries would be pretty messed up and would not be imaginative at all because we also do not get lied about Easter Bunny, or Tooth Fairy (Ecuadorians have something different for that). 

But if it does not harm or help kids, what should parents do? Lie or not lie? This is a difficult question that new parents face and are often unsure of what is best to do. Many parents have reported to feel bad about deceiving their kids but enjoy the fun of this tale but also they often worry about the time when it is time to tell their kids that it was all a lie or whenever they find out by themselves and show being upset at their parents for lying to them. But if you do not make you kids believe about this, your children will be the one in class telling all the other kids that Santa is not real and many will get upset at him. Just remember that telling the truth is the right thing to do.

I believe that parents should not make their kids believe in any kind of nonexistent figures, children can do that themselves with no problem. If I ever happen to have kids in the future, I would not want my 7 or 8 year old to be really disappointed of me and lose the trust s/he has given me. After all, s/he will have many other wonderful things to put his/her imagination to use without me having to get my hands dirty with deceive and have my kids distrust me afterwards.