Who In The Heck Is Santa Claus?

Who in the heck is Santa Claus and why is he the one that gets all of the credit? I'm one of those "new age" mommies. I have long discussions with my 5 year old son, I let him know that his opinion is always valid, but, of course, not as valid as mine. I believe that a lie is a lie and it is a written law that it can not happen in our house, or, there will be a "time out". So, given the fact that I have made this rule, law, how can I in good conscious teach my son about this overweight bearded Santa Claus person that lives in the North Pole with his elves and reindeer? I understand that the concept is meant to add a magical element to the holiday, but what about just sticking to the truth? How much more magical can you get than Christ being born...

For years, I have always told my son the real reason that we celebrate Christmas and that Santa Claus was like a cartoon character, he's not real... I have not been able to muster up the audacity to create a story about how Santa Claus does his gift giving thing in a few hours and how his reindeer fly through the air landing on the rooftop of each house so that Santa can slide down the chimney with gifts for the family. That's a pretty big story to explain to a 5-year old.

Given all of my hard work with "keeping it real" with my son, he has the nerve to not believe me, but instead believe that Santa is real. When did he start developing such strong opinions that are different than his mommy's... He even requested that I write Santa a letter telling him how well he did in school and asked for me to bake cookies and leave them on the fireplace for Santa. Why am I responsible for doing all of this additional work for an idea that does not exist, but on the other hand, how can I say no... My baby has been sucked into this popularized Santa Claus concept and by default, I'm being pulled into crazy land, and by my own flesh and blood. Is this a normal part of parenthood or should I stick to my guns and demand that he know the truth?

Below I have listed some good reads:


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