For those who can read and still believe in Santa Claus, please stop reading now. For the rest, I would really appreciate it if someone could let me know which fictional characters, if any, we are allowed to tell our kids do not exist.
Maybe there is a fine parental line when it comes to this, so I’m just really curious. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, those are no-brainers to keep mum about, but what about some of the other legendary figures of mythology and folklore?
Over the weekend I nonchalantly told my 6-year-old son that Leprechauns aren’t real. That set off a fire storm I didn’t did not see coming - a firestorm I still don’t quite understand.
After I accidentally let the little green secret out of the bag, my son went running inside to confirm this new startling factoid with his mother. Without second thought, I went back to working in the yard.
Minutes later, an astounded, baffled, and downright angry wife appeared before me.
“How could you say that?” I believe was her emotional cry. “He believes they are real, why would you go and ruin that for him?”
I was just as flabbergasted as she was, but for completely opposite reasons. I could not, to the life of me, understand why it was such a big deal. I was just letting him know what I thought he, and every other kid his age, already knew.
To me, Leprechauns fit into that fairy, sprite, troll, goblin-type category that everyone knows only exist in the movies, comic books, and on TV shows. Some may actually hold important meaning in Irish, Norse, or other folklore, but does that make them any different than say, a Smurf or a hobbit, which we easily and clearly publicly admit are fictional?
Aside from the Tooth Fairy, which over time as transcended to her own level of fairy stature in our society, aren’t the rest just cute, fun cartoon characters, like Tinkerbell?
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1 - Santa Claus
When the subject comes up, be aware that Santa Claus does exist. My legal name is Santa Claus, and I'm a Christian Monk, as St. Nicholas was many centuries ago. If you'd care to learn about my child advocacy volunteerism, please visit TheSantaClausFoundation dot org. Blessings to you and your family, Santa Claus.