Santa is real. Stop effing it up for the kids.

I've come out of my blog hibernation (bloggernation?) because of a topic I have been hearing a lot about lately: Not letting your child believe in Santa. Usually the excuse is "I don't want to lie to my child or have her be crushed when she finds out he is not real". Really, people??  I read this article from Jezebel about a teacher who told her class of seven year olds that Santa was not real and the presents they received were in fact, from their parents. Cue to heartbroken seven years olds.

  There are certain things I hold near and dear to my childhood, and the magic of Santa is one of them (and the Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy and the magical daylight savings clock fairy that my dad told me about...). I never once thought my parents were lying to me, and once I did realize there was no Santa, I was fine because it was a gradual realization. If you insist that you cant "lie" to your child, then I also assume you will also be realistic with them when they tell you they want to be a monkey that flys airplanes, or when they bring home that paper plate and macaroni mess they call art - a kid has to learn the truth sometime, right??

There is nothing more sacred than a child's imagination. In my house, Santa was real, and my parent's knew him. I even believed in him until a rather late age because I had seen him with my own two eyes in my living room putting gifts under our tree. Obviously, that was my dad in the Santa suit (I hope) but that is one of the greatest memories I have, and I still cherish it even knowing Santa isn't real.

You know what breaks a child's heart?  TELLING THEM THERE IS NO SANTA CLAUS.
I WISH I could have that imagination back. I'm not sad I don't have it anymore but, happy I was able to have it.  
So, stop it parents. Just stop it. Let your child be a child because once that is gone, you can never get it back.

Santa is watching.