Now that December is in full swing and we’ve left Halloween and Thanksgiving behind, a prominent figure is popping up more and more the closer we get to Christmas. Who am I talking about? Santa, of course! Whether your family has believed in him or not, you cannot deny the influence and sheer popularity of the holiday personality. Personally, my parents and siblings have encouraged the idea of Santa for as long as I can remember, but I fell out of that phase pretty quickly. I bet some could relate. And while finding out he isn’t real has been devastating for many, I think we forget the magical fun that persisted before that.

I’m sure most have noticed the strange spacing between major holidays; Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are back to back. After those holidays, you only get Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day a couple of months later; this could be a good thing because the range allows suspense to fill the coming year and imaginations to go wild. A frequent question I’ve heard from younger kids is, “What does Santa do during the summer?” Well, he could be doing virtually anything! It’s up to the individual to imagine what he could be doing, and in my view, that’s important for children. Allowing them to imagine and asking them what they think can provide a sense of individuality and teach them that what they say matters.

An important thing to take away from this is that our imaginations as children should be encouraged, not dwindled. I think telling children about his mythical characters is a way to do that. As I said before, allowing children to imagine and come up with stories about those characters can utilize their imaginations, and asking about what they come up with can make them feel special. Everyone deserves a good childhood, and these characters can provide that. That is what I think is so important about believing.