Trent, I’m sure you do not like to think about having to “ban” one of your readers from being able to post in the Comments section. But if at some point it becomes clear (and things appear to be approaching that point rather rapidly) that one individual seems to comment solely for the twisted enjoyment of being caustic, critical, bitter and negative, you might want to consider sparing the rest of your readers the steady stream of vitriol.

I really enjoy the group we have here, along with the vast majority of comments that are shared. Overall, I sense that people are trying to add something positive to the dialogue and the subject at hand. Even (I feel) the majority of critical comments are coming from sincere people who are trying to make their point in an effort to positively affect others in one way or another. Lately, it’s been a real bummer to come to the Comments section and feel like there is someone just salivating over the opportunity to wipe the smiles from other people’s faces. I say “Pull the plug”!

Besides, Christmas isn’t supposed to be about presents, it’s about the gift that was freely given and about love. I try to stress to them that it isn’t about getting toys and other things, it’s about giving to and loving each other, things that are important all year long, not just at Christmas.

We don’t do Santa Clause and we have told our children point blank that Santa isn’t real, and that it’s just a fun story. To the person that thought that a Santa-less Christmas has no magic and fun, I’d just offer that if you were a fly on the wall here at our house, you’d think differently.

But Christmas isn’t actually a really big “present” time for our kids, anyway, so it’s maybe been an easy process because there aren’t tons of “from Santa” gifts under the tree, and the kids don’t write letters to Santa, et al. If we did those (that is, if we presented Santa as a real actor in the modern Christmas narrative), I think Santa-as-game would be harder to pull off.

But the “Santa as universal game” has worked really well for us. And, a few weeks ago, when she heard on the playground at school that Santa wasn’t real (at 5!), it didn’t throw her. I remember being bummed when I found out. And I imagine my parents were a little concerned that it took me so long to figure it out. :)

John DeFlumeri Jr

I am childfree. I don’t entertain children, but they are sometimes dragged to my house by their parents. I would sit right down without giving the child’s objections a second thought. Things like this happen, and the parents just laugh it off and say “oh, he doesn’t like kids.” And I don’t care if that is sincere, if they don’t like it they can leave them at home or not come back.

If I did have kids, I certainly wouldn’t contribute to them believing the imaginary friend is real. They could think they were able to fool me with whatever they made up and I would go along with it. Then I would have children that thought making things up and passing them off as the truth was acceptable.

More to the point: OF COURSE SANTA EXISTS! Hasn’t anyone read, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”? If you haven’t you should google it. It’s a fun read.

There’s a sizable difference between not squelching imagination and telling lies.

If I were in that situation, I’d tell them the exact situation – we don’t have enough money for Christmas presents this year. I’d also explain exactly like I did above – that Santa is a real person who lived a long time ago (Saint Nicholas, of course) and that his spirit lives on because of helpers, who are often moms and dads.

On Christmas Day, I’d just spend the whole day with them, doing free stuff that was fun. We’d go sledding or hiking or whatever we could do, as long as we could spend the day together.