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tiggerspoohbear -> RE: Why do Parents tell their children fictional characters are real? (12/30/2010 5:10:01 PM)
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I don't have any children, but I have a now 16 yr old niece. My sister and mom took her to the mall just before Christmas when she was 3 to see Santa. Turns out the Santa that year was someone my mom had grown up with and knew her very well. Imagine the face on my niece when "Santa" called my mom by name and started asking about her and talking about things as they grew up. It was priceless, Grandma actually knew Santa. The best year ever.
She and my best friend's oldest always wondered how they received gifts from "Santa and tante Chantal" when I lived in an apartment and had no chimney. I told both of them that Santa had a special night where he delivered gifts to aunts and friends of kids so they'd get them in time for Christmas. And that he had a magical way of making chimneys appear where there were none. Wonderment and joy for 2 little girls. Wonderment and joy for me as the aunt and godmother.
My niece asked my sister at the age of 4 is Santa was real, she was a realist too as a child, when told no, something my sister regretted doing, it was over for my niece who went on to tell her best friend that there was no Santa. She didn't do it to be mean or bully this friend, she'd learned a secret and just had to tell someone. Guess who my sister got a call from that night? The friend's mom who was NOT a happy camper. But the damage had been done. Niece got a sitting down and was told that even if she knew there was no Santa, she couldn't tell anyone else since other kids she knew still believed in him. From that moment forward, she never told another child. She somehow "got" it.
She's grown up into a wonderful young lady who is responsible, empathetic, a joy to be with and one who deeply cares. She lost her dad a year and 1/2 ago and has shown such courage and strength in spite of 18 months of hell seeing her dad reduced to a vegetable due to ALS and his subsequent passing. I love her to pieces, know the great job both my sister and BIL did bringing her up, and the great job my sister is now doing as a single mom. She has been, is and will always be a blessing to our entire family.
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