I loathe Santa Claus
I loathe Santa Claus. I have never liked the idea of some creepy, old, weird dude breaking into the house to bring gifts. My disdain for Santa was so bad that even my daughter, at a very young age, could sense it even though I tried to play along.
I think my daughter was 4 when we spent Christmas eve at her grandparent’s house. Normally she would sleep with my mom, but this time was very different. She demanded to sleep with me on Christmas eve.
I didn’t think anything about it but then she brought it up multiple times and I finally asked, “why is it so important for you to sleep with me tonight?” She replied with the sweetest, most sincere, little voice, “because I am afraid you will shoot Santa!”
I live in Missouri where the Castle Law is near and dear to our hearts, so her concern was valid. I would have shot any intruder, but I did feel bad about this one. I told her I was glad she recognized that some strange man breaking into our home was worthy of a bullet, even Santa. I promised her that night that I would not kill Santa just so she could get her gifts, but she could tell I didn’t like it. I think about this every year at Christmas. I can’t decide if I am proud of this or slightly embarrassed.
Santa is creepy. Kids can sense the creepiness so why do we encourage and often force them to sit on some stranger’s lap and tell them what they want for Christmas? We tell our kids to behave and be good for Santa so they can get their gifts… Is this grooming?
Even when I was little, I was over Santa in a hurry. I don’t think there is a single picture of me behaving for a Santa picture and my parents gave up quickly when I broke the news that Santa wasn’t real way before kindergarten.
But back to the grooming… Am I alone on this? Does anyone else feel this to be a creepy act? What does this do in terms of what we teach our kids? Just because our society puts creepy Santa on a pedestal, why do we all follow along? You don’t know this man that is touching your child. Would you sit your kid on another strange man’s lap and tell them to be good and polite? NOPE!
In conclusion, am I crazy? I have a child and suddenly all the things that are just embedded in tradition I begin to question. But I just can’t shake the feeling that this is one tradition that can go… What do you think?
