Should I Tell My Kids the Truth About Santa Claus?

"I think you should sit down before I tell you this. Are you ready? Okay, Santa isn't real...I'm sorry you had to hear that. Don't ruin it for your little brother/sister or you won't get anything this year."

Well that's better than what I got. I should have seen it coming.
"Why would Santa forget a few presents upstairs?" I thought.
"Why does Mom have a bunch of bags in the back room?" I pondered.
Then one day, I was hit with the biggest life of my childhood. My sister, Kristin, was having a tantrum and screamed in my face, "Santa isn't real!" Whoa!
I hope all of us are aware that Santa Claus isn't real. He was just a lie, told by our parents, to get us to behave around Christmas time. The feeling of betrayal is so musty that it still remains after several years. When asked if they will continue the tradition of Santa Claus onto their kids, most youths will respond with a big "No!" You can tell it's a touchy subject. That hate is still so fresh and juicy that you could serve it for Thanksgiving dinner. I can still hear my Mom say, "Erik! Quit it or you'll get coal for Christmas!" Fortunately for me and my siblings, my Mom had an actual love for the holidays. Her cheer seemed genuine and I feel she actually enjoyed being Santa. She would tell my sisters to put out cookies and milk for Santa. "And don't forget carrots for the reindeer," I always chimed in. When we came back the next morning, the cookies were nibbled, the milk half drunk, and the carrots crunched by the molars of an authentic reindeer from the North Pole. Through my eyes, it all seemed so magical. Santa came to my house! I want to see that shimmer in my child's eyes.

It's strange to have such love for a fat stranger that gives you gifts. What's wrong with just loving my Mom for giving me those presents? She did all the work. All the shopping, planning, and decorating. In the end, your kid loves a man in a red suit. All those years of providing him with gifts goes down the drain with 3 words.

Santa isn't real.

The kid will resent you for it. All that love materialized into presents has turned sour, but it doesn't last forever. Kids grow up and eventually become parents. Every new parent is really a kid winging child raising for the first time. If you feel the need to lie to your child in order to keep him/her in line, it's okay. But I hope you have that giddy feeling of being Santa for the first time, nibbling on those carrots.

Giovanni and Collins

After reading “Sanctuary: For Harry Potter the Movie”, I didn’t know what to feel for the piece. I connected the part of the baby elephant, alone after the slaughter, with little Harry, but got somewhat confused as the “poem” went on. Giovanni’s piece didn’t seem very deep the first time through. I thought, “You’re reading it wrong!” There was obviously something under the surface that Giovanni was trying to convey, but I couldn’t decipher her rambling into an intelligent theme. After our discussion in class, the message was so clear. How could I have been so blind?

That takes us to this week with Billy Collins’ piece “The History Teacher.” Last year, Mrs. Parks gave us a taste of Billy Collins’ work, but he didn’t seem nearly as serious as Giovanni. When dissecting poems such as “Litany”, “Introduction To Poetry”, and “Flames”, I guess we don’t see the poet’s entire armada of argumentative strategy. The poems, which were very entertaining, were only a precursor to dissecting Collins’ mature poetry. I understand in “The History Teacher” that the teacher is purposely giving the students wrong information in order to “protect his students’ innocence.” This is where the analysis seems to take a bit of a stretch. The teacher is making the children blind to the wrongs in this world, and they respond accordingly. By being unaware of humanity’s trespasses, Collins portrays the children as ruthless bullies on the playground. Collins uses the playground abuse as a connection to the atrocities committed during the conflicts. I love the image of the teacher walking home, full of self- satisfaction with a grin on his face, and thinking that he has impacted his students for the better.  

Is there an underlying message that I am not yet reaching? Or, is this just another Collins’ piece used to entertain the reader?

Hawthorne's Use of Sin and Hope

Nathaniel Hawthorne and his work can be interpreted in many ways. Most interpret his writing as that of a transcendentalist, but Hawthorne is unique because he suffers from the guilt left behind by his great-great-grandfather, Judge Hawthorne. Hawthorne was ashamed enough to subtly change his name, but his disassociation from his ancestors was just as apparent with The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne wrote an anti-puritan novel that showed how a puritan world is affected by sin. The sins committed in a puritan world are sometimes trivial, but because these are acts against god, the punishments associated are very damaging. A theocracy uses these punishments to make a world that is despairing and gray. A world that is reflected by Hester's appearance.

In Hawthorne's idea of a puritan world, Hester Prynne makes her appearance as a beautiful, young woman strutting out of the decaying prison with the fragrance of hope still expelling from her pores. Her character has accepted the sin, and Hawthorne uses this scene to show how hope can thrive in someone who has accepted the situation. Hester does not blame others for her misfortune, nor is she in denial of her crime. She takes society head on, which is rewarded with hope, life, and beauty practically steaming from her skin. Hope and sin are connected by Hester's character. In a puritan society, Hester's punishment is not only the wearing the scarlet letter, but also losing all hope. She is bright on the scaffold, but slowly loses her color as the years drag on. Her hope is slowly draining from her body. When she removes the scarlet letter in chapter 18, Hester displays new life, "A crimson flush was glowing on her cheek, that had long been so pale"(Hawthorne 199). Hope has again flourished from Hester, who wants to start a life with Dimmesdale. Unfortunately for her, this is a piece by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the novel would lose its meaning if Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale lived happily ever after. It's disappointing to see Hester lose her hope after Dimmesdale's death, but Hawthorne needed to make the association of hopelessness in a puritan society. 

Dimmesdale's Guilt

In Hawthorne's masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne creates a world dictated by sin, and the resulting guilt impacts each character. Hester Prynne, a woman with no husband for support, is publicly shamed, yet she sheds no tears. Guilt has not taken over her life. Hester is able to accept the sin she has committed, and embrace the torture from her sin. 

Hester's example of bravery is a stark contrast to Dimmesdale's pitiful cowardice. Dimmesdale avoids his responsibility of taking care of his child and sharing the blame with Hester. Not only is he avoiding support of Hester, but he has also committed a crime against God. As a clergyman, Dimmesdale is well aware of God's views toward sinners. When there is guilt from abandonment coupled with guilt from betraying his won faith, Dimmesdale will begin to fall apart in one way or another. As a result, his body slowly deteriorates into a pale, sick mess. As he grows more ill, the townspeople see him as even more holy. In order to stop his guilt from lying to his city, Dimmesdale would need to tell his congregation of his lie. Instead, he does not deliver any words because he is a coward. Guilt has taken over his life, and his lack of bravery fights his desire to embrace his sin. Because of his inability to display his sin, Dimmesdale actually envies Hester. This is shown by Dimmesdale going to the scaffold late at night. He wouldn't dare go in the middle of the day surrounded by hundreds of people because he is such a coward. He is a sinner in the eyes of God and a coward to his own.