The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1924-12-25

into belief in the dear old saint. The
first primary teacher in certain
well-known school considers it very
wrong and tells every one of her
children the real truth as she see it,
and they rapidly spread the sad news
to all their little friends. The sup
erintendent of the Sunday school in
another town is of similar opinion,
and from every Christmas program in
his school all allusion to Santa is
omitted. No merry songs of myster-
ious sleigh-bells are heard there; no
little red fireplaces, no tiny stock
ings ever decorate the stage for fes-
tivities in connection with that Sum
day School.
l wonder how the readers of these
columns feel on this subject? / for
one am heartily in favor of Santa
Claus. In my childhood, / happened
to be one of family of six children,
and we We're all told of Santa when
we were scarcely out of babyhood.
The happiness of Christmas time in
our home will always be a cherished
memory, and it was the SANITY" part
OF it that made it so joyous, for our
gifts We're never costly, in fact, COM
pared with the toys that little folks
receive nowadays, they were almost
insignificant.
AS for the terrible disillusion-
ment" that is so often suggested rs
the natural outcome of telling child
rem of Santa Claus, we never suffer-
ed any such misfortune. AS We grew
older, and began to question, our mo-
Their explained to US very beautifully
the real meanin gof the dear old saint
Santa Claus is the spirit of Christ
mas, somewhat as Jack Frost is the
spirit of cold and FROST" she told US.
Santa is the soul of good cheer and
merriment, the spirit of loving and
giving" Very easily she made us I'M
derstand why we had been led to be-
lieve in him = just to make Christ
mas time more bright and gay. Fol-
lowing her explanation, we were al
way ready to help foster the belief
in younger children.
Now l have little daughter of my
own, Her father and / led her to be-
ieve in Santa, for surely we should
have been selfish parents had we de-
prived her of joy that had meant
SO much to US. The year that Barbara
was eight years old, I explained to
her about "Santy." ooh, mother"
she exclaimed happily, when she un-
derstood it all, "now this year I'll
be Sanity Claus to cousin John and
Herbert and little Mary Elizabeth"
You see how thoroly she grasped the
meaning. No establishment, no feel
ing of having been hoodwinked.
Once, when Barbara was only lit
tie over four, some child tried to shake
her belief. swell of tourse," answer
ed Barbarba, "if you don't believe IN
Sanity, there JUS isn't any Sanity for
you, that's ALL" Her father later con-
firmed her reply and the danger of
having to tell her at that tender age
was averted.
l have never favored dressing up"
to initiate Santa. Rather do I favor
the keeping of his personality delight
fully mysterious and vague. Let the
kiddies get their impressions of the
jolly old fellow from colored pictures
AID verbal descriptions rather than
from masked men. Then, when the
time of revelation comes, one can
make the story more charming by
comparing Santa's red checks to the
bright Christmas holly, his white
beard to the snow and frost; his little
fat form may be symbolic of laughter
and jollity, and so on. Even his
method of coming down
the chimney may be made to symbo-
lie the fascinating secrecy of the
Christmastide.