Quote:
Originally posted by lumberjim
kids NEED fantasy.....they LOVE santa.....why deprive them of it? don't you remember the excitement of christmas eve and listening for reindeer on the roof until you finally fell asleep? cmon! you all got over the realization that there was no physical santa. it became a rite of passage, in a sense. "i'm old enough to know about the santa thing...better not tell little sis""
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Yes, I see the point here. And like I said, I was presented with this same argument by my wife and gave in.
However, try to see both sides of the story.
Kids are naive and largely ignorant of the world around them. Filling their heads with false information does not help this condition. I'm supposed to teach my child, not exacerbate her ignorance. I value knowledge and truth very highly. I want to impart that to my child. To lie is to go in the complete opposite direction. It's directly opposed to my goals of teaching her about the world.
Of course, there are many circumstances where little lies are okay and probably beneficial. But something so vast as the "Santa Claus" fantasy is WAY beyond a small white lie.
Mostly, think of this as an attempt by me to remain reasonably consistent with my principles.