With Christmas a mere 2 days away, my husband and I are confronted with a decision. Do we want our daughter to have presents magically come from Santa Claus or just from her family?

I am a Catholic and I was raised with believing in Santa, so I think it’s fine. However, my husband is very much the scientist and doesn’t think it would be a good idea. I hear lots of people talking about keeping Christ in Christmas, which is wonderful, but I still want Emily to experience the fun of Santa Claus. She is only 2 years old, so I suppose we really don’t have to decide anything this year.

If she asks why there are so many different-looking Santas, then I’ve got a clever answer from discussing this very topic with a brilliant work colleague of mine: Santa is much too busy working at the North Pole, so he sends his look-alikes around the world to fill in for him until Christmas Eve, when the true Santa goes around the world delivering presents. My family and I have already mentioned Santa numerous times to Emily without going into detail about gifts or flying reindeer, and so Emily recognizes him. In fact, she’s already taken a couple of photos with him.

Emily at 2-months-old with Santa

Emily at 2-years-old with Santa

A friend of mine shared an article about this on Facebook and it really made sense for me. It explains the possible origins of “Santa Claus” and explains some of the behavior we associate with him (such as why he comes down a chimney). I’ve included this link to the article:

What we tell our kids about Santa | OnFaith.

So all of you other mommies (and daddies) out there, what do you think?