Britt Jones
It’s almost Christmas and that can only mean one thing: your kids are going to bombard you with questions about Santa.
But knowing how to respond to whether Santa is real or not can be a conflicting thing for you to think about. Do you tell them that he’s fake and something we all like to collectively pretend is real for the children of the world?
Or do we lie, and tell them that Saint Nicholas is a real man who comes down our chimney’s (or through the back door if you don’t have one) once a year to deliver everything they want for Christmas as a reward for being well behaved?
It’s a doozey, and many parents will be struggling with this right about now.
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However, one expert has come out with a fool-proof way to address their questions so that you’re not having to lie to them - or even tell the truth.
Katie Plunkett at @kidtalk.co is an educator, author and a behaviour and communication supporter for parents and teachers, and she shared that redirection is your best bet this year.
Sharing in an Instagram post, she wrote for her 456,000 followers: “If your child excitedly awaits a visit from Santa every year, don’t panic when you get this inevitable question.
“Instead, let your child take the lead and turn their questions back on them.”
She explained: “For example: Child’s question: ‘How does Santa visit every house in one night?’ Your response: ‘How do you think he would be able to do that?’”
For Plunkett, this could go one of two ways.
She said: “A fantastical answer might indicate that your child is developing curiosity and it’s okay to let that sit for awhile.
“A skeptical answer demonstrates that your child’s belief in Santa is starting to falter. You can use these responses to help you gauge your child’s readiness to have the Santa talk.”
All in all, ‘eventually, all kids figure it out’ but she says ‘that doesn’t mean we need to prematurely spoil the fun, but we also need to be able to recognize when the jig is up’.
According to Jill Gross, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Seattle who told Care, it’s completely up to you how you decide to bring it up.
Cross said: “It really is a judgment call. If you get a feeling as a parent that it would do a disservice to your child to answer truthfully, you may want to redirect them.”
Lisa A. Wilke, a psychologist at the Center for Mental Health in Blaine, Nebraska, also shared that you could even try roleplaying with your child, as long as you’re not taking it too far like this one mum did.
Also speaking to Care, she suggested: “It may be helpful to ask the child if they would like to become Santa and secretly give a gift to a close friend, familiar neighbor, sibling, etc.
“This can keep the spirit of Santa alive in a new way where the child is giving now versus receiving a special gift.”
No matter how you decide to do it, it’ll be fine in the end.