I do believe in Santa Clause

My cousin made another post on her blog that has made me think about thing again. She wanted to know whether it was better to "lie" to your children and teach them about Santa Clause, or to be completely honest with them and tell them that there is no Santa Clause. I just wanted to post on my blog what my response was to her. Her question has really made me think, and the following response is what I truly do believe. Let me know what you think because I want to know if I am alone in this out there, or if the world is starting to lose the Spirit of Christmas for "honesty".

Way to go on the controversial topic Michelle!! As the mother of 4, here is my point of view. When I was little, my mother told me this story, and I do think that it is sort of the way that the whole Santa Clause thing got started. . . but has now been forgotten and sometimes can get a little out of hand:
Giving presents at Christmas time is something that started as a way to remember that the wise men brought gifts to the Christ Child to celebrate His birth. From what I was told (by my mother, of course) was that there was a man named Santa Clause who would notice that during the celebration of Christmas there were many poor children who wouldn’t get gifts, so he would go out and get them something that they needed (like new socks, or new clothes or shoes or something like that) and would drop it on their door step on Christmas Eve so that when they would wake up in the morning, they would have something new from someone that they had never met. People found out what this Santa Clause did and started carrying on the tradition. Apparently the Catholic church even made him a saint which is how we get St. Nicholas.
So, when it comes to your debate, when I hear you asking if I should be teaching my kids about Santa Clause. . . I wholeheartidly say, “yes”. Why would I not teach my children about how important it is to give something to others?We spend a lot of time at Christmas, in our house, talking about the story of Christ’s birth. I collect nativities and so the children are surrounded by reminders of the real reason to celebrate Christmas. Since giving and getting presents didn’t originate with the creation of this mythic “Santa Clause”, I do not feel as though I am teaching my children two different messages at Christmas. I feel that the story of Santa Clause coinsides with the story of the birth of the Christchild. I mean, isn’t that what Jesus would do? Did he not come and give to the poor and the needy?
That being said, my children are neither poor nor needy, but there is a magic at Christmas that you feel especially when you are around young children who still believe in Santa Clause. I don’t think that because they are receiving presents from a “mythical” being who symbolizes unselfishness and goodness is necessarily something that will make them mistrust me when they are older. Even after my mom told me about Santa, I believed, as I still do that there is something special about Christmas when you go to bed at night and you feel happy and good, and you feel at peace with yourself and with the world. . . and you wake up with the excitement of knowing that the following day will be filled with happiness and surprises and you get to feel special all day long because people have taken the time to think about you and get you a present that they know that you will like.
As for the whole differences in religion with the Jewish religion and the Muslim religion, it is a simple answer. Different people believe different things. Just because they do not get Santa on Christmas Eve, doesn’t mean that they do not get the opportunity to celebrate their beliefs. From my research, every religion has something special that they celebrate, and it may not be at this time of year, but they do get it.