What attitudes are we instilling in our children if we associate the bountiful, selfless, gift giving at Christmas with a mythical character?

And what do they learn when it is no longer real? That generosity is merely a trait of fairy tales?

Maybe instead, we should want our children to believe selflessness is achievable, or maybe we should want to not lie to them.

We’d lie to keep our children safe though,

and we lie to make things understandable.

Is lying to bring someone joy out of the question?

Is it better if Santa brings added value?
If we keep him around and he only brings children joy but teaches them nothing about compassion, is he failing at the job?

Santa is only one part of Christmas, and no single part runs the whole machine. A car without the comfort of a seat can be as useless as a car without a steering wheel.

So maybe he does his job fine and it’s the responsibility of the rest of us to pick up any slack.