“As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed
all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,….”
-lines from ‘A
visit from St Nicholas’ written by Clement Clarke Moore
Come December and we all are anxiously looking
forward to what gifts to buy to give our children as gifts from Santa Claus. Just
as the children await their gifts, we parents too are excited in letting them
believe that the old merry elf riding on his sleigh came from North Pole and
travelling down the chimney, dropped their gifts in the stockings hanging
outside their doors.
We want them to believe in the magical powers of
the old man who we tell them rewards every well behaved child with his/her
wishes. We tell them that this is an ancient tradition which is followed in
true spirit by every good human being. Till the kids become adolescents, they
listen to us and wait eagerly for the Santa Claus the night before Christmas.
And sometimes, even if they know the truth they enjoy playing along and letting
us reward them in the name of tradition.
Some children when they grow up feel they have
been cheated in their childhood as they believed in the magical powers of the
Santa Claus. As a result, they do not let the children fantasize or dream about
what Santa could bring them as Christmas gifts. Some others tell them the truth
as and when the children demand answers to their queries on Santa’s reality.
What I do with my daughter is let her tell me what she feels is the reality
behind the Santa Story. This way she gets to have her opinion, prove its
validity and check its reality too. And whatever we do after that is just a new
family tradition that we have together agreed to start.


Every religion has a lot of myths,fairy tales and
folk lore around which its traditions revolve. These stories talk about good
deeds and happy moments spent together by the families. Till the time they
spread the message of brotherhood and togetherness, these traditions are good.
Children will also find similarities between the traditions that their friends
who follow other religion talk about. For example,all religions talk about the
art of sharing their riches with the poor and needy. So, even if children may
find the story of Santa Claus a myth for sometime, it will be easy to make them
understand the universal sentiments harboured by every religion.
