
Just the other day at work, I attempted to voice a dilemma I expect to be having in a few years time when my own son will be old enough to be lied to. Should I lie to him about Santa Claus?
When I was wee, my older brother was pretty freaked out about the idea of a man he didn’t know coming down our chimney and into the house, my mum had to reassure him at an early age that Santa was fictitious, he soon relayed that onto myself and our younger brother. So if I ever did believe in Santa Claus it wasn’t for long and indeed I have no memory of ever believing in him.
Immediately my question was met with horror! I was accused of being ‘soulless’. What exactly is soulless about protecting my son from a fat, greedy Coca-Cola salesman who is meant to symbolise Christmas?
Santa for some, has come to personify all that is ‘magic’ about Christmas. What we define as being magical is the mystery preceding material gain.
This was while I was adding a Santa’s Grotto section to the website of a Shopping Centre, I was searching through the pages of a well known stock photography website, for a picture of a socially acceptable image of a Santa Claus. It was far from easy I can assure you, due to what I perceive to be acceptable for public consumption, thanks to a hysterical tabloid press.
Most look like sad old men pretending be something they are not and/or paedophiles. I mean, what is so wrong with an over 50 year old male wearing a Santa Clause outfit, with fake beard, hat and all the rest of it? quite a lot apparently.
Christmas time for me is about family coming together, about good food and plenty of drink. It used to also be about the world slowing down and I remember the days when shops were actually shut for a few days over the festive period. The over commercialisation of the festive period is disgusting and that I’m afraid is what Santa has come to symbolise. I want to protect my son from this for as long as I can.