Why I Believe in Santa and You Should, Too

Find out why believing in Santa Claus isn’t just for kids or even those who celebrate Christmas.

I believe in Santa Claus and so should you, especially in 2020. I don’t care what holidays you celebrate (or don’t celebrate) or whether you are 4 or 40. This is not some frivolous pursuit. I am dead serious. You need Santa and anyway, he’s real. Certainly!

You don’t believe? Well, you should. On a dark day in second grade, a little boy sidled up next to me in line on our way to gym or home or wherever second graders actually go. He was the youngest of four boys and knew stuff that I didn’t yet know. So, he got in my face and told me I was ridiculous for believing in Santa. “Everyone knows it is your mom and dad who leave the gifts under your tree,” he said as if he was reading me his mother’s grocery list. I cried.

Learning the Truth about Santa

At bedtime, I actually laid next to my mother. I am the oldest of three kids and always slept on my own, leaving my brother and sister to finagle their way into my parent’s arms at night. Already my mother knew something was amiss.

“Mommy, is Santa real?” I asked. “I’m hearing he isn’t. You will tell me the truth.” My mother was somewhat surprised. But without even a little pause, she said Santa is everywhere. He is all around us. He knows that you are not going to sleep when you’re supposed to and he won’t visit you if you don’t believe.

I pushed her. I insisted that this rumor I heard came from a reliable source. Back then she called me the 6 O’Clock News. She kind of predetermined my future career with that moniker. I would tell my parents every detail of my day. Mom thought this discussion was just more of that. But the revelation about Santa was all I could think about and I felt a black hole covering my heart. It was as if the Grinch himself had entered my body.

Eventually, my mother would break. “Even if someone else ends up putting gifts under trees, Santa is the one who makes it all possible,” she said. “It’s up to each and every one of us to believe and make the magic happen.” It was the end of my innocence, a tragedy of epic proportions. I was simply sick. All I heard was “even if someone else ends up putting gifts under trees…” The…