The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-12-20
We Need to
Have Santa
for Child
It's a Pretty Myth Which
Adds to Joy of Living
Holiday Time.
By GRETTA PALMER
Times STAFF Writer

no you believe in Santa CLAUSE"
- was one of the three touch
zones Of sophistication used by the
econd-year kindergarten class at
cur school whenever a new pupil
Z ppeared. The two others were do
gu believe in the Easter rabbit"
md DO you know where babies
come from?"
The 7-year-old who would sail
through all three parts, of the in
Cuisition with even the haziest ap-
lroach to the truth was admitted
- be a girl worth knowing. All
others were summarily shorn of
ineir illusions.
The process, as we remember it,
vas not particularly devastating to
Cur faith in life or our parents
ruth telling. We doubt that the
Weakening is any more soul shatter-
ing TO the children of today.
Arguments Lack HumOr
Psychologists and pedagogues
warn parents against telling their
,oung that Santa will fill their
BOOKINGS, advancing arguments
which sound a little humorless to
the lay ear.
The child, they say, will resent
your having lied to him when he
finds that it was the less glamorous
figure of father who tiptoed in to
trim the Christmas tree. The dis
covery Of your mendacity will shake
his faith in the truth of anything
you ever tell him again.
Well, you we're told the story when
you were young, and do you hold it
against your parents now? OF course
not. 1t is such a pretty myth-one
Of those myths which are an i'm
memorial part Of childhood.
You know the kindness which
stirred your parents when they told
it to you, and your child, in the
midst of his future disillusion, will
know 1t, too. There have been many
households in which the sceptical
youngster, for several years, has
artfully pretended to believe in the
old duffer just to save his parents
from disappointment. Children are
not such prigs in their moral judg-
ments as we sometimes think.
Will Notice Fibs
The world is full of lies, and
you can not, for many years, save
an intelligent child from hap
pening onto this depressing fact.
You may attempt to guard him
against the discovery of life's i'm
projections, you may try to con-
vince him that both of his parents |
characters are as flawless as the |
Kohinoor, but he will find you out. |
The simple telephoned fib you tell |
the friend who wants to come and |
call when your husband is too tired |
to see anyone, the white lie you tell |
your husband to keep him from 60
ing too soon into the room where |
his new birthday radio is installed
these are benevolent little stains on |
your utter truthfulness. Your child |
will notice them, you may be sure. |
1t is impossible for even the most
angelic parents to live up to the
character of unsullied saints, and
your fodder has probably detected
many faults before the age at which
he finds out that Santa Claus is
not a demonstrable reality. He is
apt to hold against you the little lie
that gave him such delight
We Need Santa
IF there were no God 1t would |
be necessary to invent him." said
Voltaire. Well, there is no Santa |
Claus in our grown-up world, but |
we have found we needed him as
one of the most beloved characters
in the world of childhood which is
peopled with legends of the childs |
own making.
The enchanting belief in Santa
Claus and his reindeer, his paunch |
and his pack will never hurt child. |
1t is the cynical grown-ups. who
have too completely lost their belief |
in him and his kind, who need your
help.