Telling kids about Santa Claus is a subject I truly don’t have the most experience in; I do not have any kids therefore I have never been put into the situation of explaining Santa Claus to a child.

So to tell you why I believe parents should tell their child that Santa exists, I have to do it from the perspective I’ve experienced: the perspective of the child.

Santa Claus was without a doubt the most exciting and magical part of my childhood. This is especially because of my family and the efforts they put forth to encourage my belief.

I remember not being able to sleep all night, but I would be in bed by 7:00 P.M. because I didn’t want to risk Santa passing by. I remember looking up and seeing Rudolph’s nose, and tracking Santa online to see where he was. I remember waking up and leaving my room to see the lit up Christmas tree with all the presents underneath of it.

Of course, I also remember the moment I found out Santa wasn’t real. I was around 12, which is embarrassing to admit because kids these days are finding out in kindergarten the truth about old Saint Nick. I looked into my mother’s closet and saw presents marked “From Santa”.

Needless to say, I had a nervous breakdown.

I was shocked, I remember feeling lied to and embarrassed. Santa, the magic, the elves — they weren’t real. I was upset that I had gotten into fights with older kids because they told me he wasn’t real but I insisted that he was. I was upset that I bragged to my peers that I had never gotten coal in my stocking. I was upset that I had been encouraged to believe something that was made up.

I consider finding out Santa wasn’t real to be an incredibly upsetting time for myself.

Yet I will absolutely tell my kids someday about the magic of Santa Claus. I probably won’t enforce the idea as much, but I will definitely not tell my kids he’s not real. I will let them believe if they want to believe as long as they want to believe. Because I wanted to believe when I was a kid. I wanted to believe, so I did — against all logic I believed in the magic of Mr. Claus.

That magic made Christmas the best time of the year for me as a kid. I can’t wait for it to make it the best time of the year for my kids someday, too.

Every parent knows what’s best for their child, every parent should do what they think is right. In my opinion, building up the idea of Santa Claus only to tell them later that it was all a lie isn’t the way to do it. Let them believe or not believe as long as it’s what makes them the happiest.