VIDEO. Should we admit to children that Santa Claus does not exist?

Once again, your children may have expressed doubts about the existence of Santa Claus. How does he manage to deliver so many presents in one night? Where does he live ? Why have we never seen him? So many legitimate questions that parents strive to answer with the full awareness that they are lying to their children and will lead to possible disappointment in the future. Should we therefore strive to tell them the truth and wrest from them this magic which makes this day such a special celebration? “If we believe that it does not exist, we can say it but we can say it when the child asks us the question “, answers the child psychiatrist Stéphane Clerget. “You don’t have to tell him straight away that he doesn’t exist. “ Would a lie therefore be advisable in the face of the truth? Not exactly.

The child psychiatrist explains that this belief “reflects the fact that the child lives in a particular universe which corresponds to the magical thought where he still has difficulty in distinguishing things between the real and the imaginary. “ A magical thought that has a function since it protects the young child who does not have sufficient defenses to face reality. “That is to say that this imaginary, it is protective, it is like a protective cocoon, it is necessary “, explains Stéphane Clerget.

Some parents will always prefer to make the choice not to lie to their children by admitting to them as soon as possible that Santa Claus does not exist. A respectable decision but not without consequences according to the child psychiatrist. “In that case, may these people go all the way and never lie “, he advises. “I would be surprised if they could never lie in front of their children “, he confesses, however. In both cases, “whether he believes or does not believe in Santa Claus, what seems important to me is to continue to give the gifts under the tree and not to bring your child to the supermarket and let him choose his gifts. Let the children believe in Santa Claus but don’t make them believe and when they ask the question, we can tell them that Santa Claus exists for those who believe in it. “