Big Ben - 12/24/2025 15:23


TL, DR version: a young lady said she doesn’t think she will be able to lie about Santa to her small children someday. Has anyone just told their kids from day 1?

Long version:

At lunch with a group of people earlier this month, we somehow got on the topic of how much work it is to deal with the elf on the shelf for weeks at a time. Everyone with small children agreed that it’s a PItA, but that the kids love it and it can be useful to remind the kids that someone is watching so they better be good or else Santa is going to know. A newlywed couple was there and after listening to our totally practical tips and advice about small children they may someday have, the wife said that she thinks she’s just going to tell her children the truth from the very beginning. She said she just doesn’t think she can lie to them. After we got over our initial shock, we assured her that by the time her kids got to the age to try to understand Santa Claus, she would have already lied to them so many times over trivial matters that playing along about Santa for a few years wouldn’t be any big deal. I’m not sure if we convinced her or not.

It made me wonder though, has anybody just told their little kids what adults know about Santa right from day one?