Just by the title I can hear some people saying to me, I was that the kid who hated Christmas, that lonely child who was jealous over the other children for having better gifts and for that reason hated Santa.
Actually no, I loved Christmas and I was very spoiled. So why am I writing this article about Santa screwing you up.
Let's go back in the time, when we were very young, maybe in our first year. We are introduced to something called Christmas and we receive a gift (or more depending on how big is your family). In our little minds means only one thing, we get a new toy! A few years pass and we know the maker and the distributor of our Christmas gifts is a person called Santa Claws with a bunch of small people around him, somewhere in the North pole. How we know that? Everybody says that, parents, teachers, movies, music and friends from school, so it's true. The best part? Being a good kid - and this act strangely begins two months before Christmas - you can have a gift-list with toys and video games you like. As we grow older logic starts to kick in and questions arise. How Santa travels so fast? What's up with the Christmas gifts hidden in the closet? And parents try to cover up with some magic supernatural explains. Until we found out the world is not so magical, got the feelings hurt and forced to accept the things as they are and we keep going with our life.
You gotta to admit if Santa was on the North pole he would have a nice resort.
But where this story comes from?
The very origin story comes from Saint Nicolas. He was know for his piety and kindness. Some stories are about saving people from difficult situations, other are about traveling and helping the poor. But the act which made him the inspiration about the Santa story is that, he gave stuff (presents today) and its presence to people sick and alone. (If you wanna know how the story was combined and redefined along the years click here).
What's the problem with the story?
First, as we are introduced, parents warn us if we want Santa to make us a gift we need to behave accordingly to the adults rules. If you don't behave as it is said you are considered "bad kid" and you risk not having your Christmas gift. It's then when our system right-wrong is formed with no resistant, by others.
Second, after we grew up a little, we start to develop our own skepticism and critical thinking, things vital to how perceive life and make decisions. These two things are pushed over by supernaturals explanations and we are left believing in fairy tales. We see today, the tendency to believe in politicians and advertising companies stories, even when we know it is not all truth.
Third, when we faced the truth, apart from the emotional connection, a question arise "Did my parents lie to me? Oh my god, why did they lie to me?". Something weird happen then, we learned that we can lie too to our family, so we did in our teenage years. We may tend to trust less our parents.
I would revise the story as I wanted to hear it: "Hey son, this gift is from the Christmas spirit called Santa Claus and we bought it for you. We keep this spirit alive as an act of kindness to people we love and care. It was inspired by an old wise man who lived many years ago. Have a nice Christmas day!"
Now, if you want to express your feelings feel free, but with good manners cause Christmas is only a few months away.
Photo by Mike Arney