I am so over the whole Santa thing, it’s not even funny.

It’s no secret that we don’t “do” Santa here. We’ve never told our children he’s real; they’ve never written letters to him or watched for him on Christmas Eve; they know that their presents come from the real people in their lives that love them, not some mythical figure from the North Pole.

That being said, I’ve also always been very careful to instruct them not to ruin anybody else’s Santa fun. If someone, especially in the presence of other children, asks what they’re asking Santa for, or what Santa brought them, our children simply respond, “Santa doesn’t come to our house.” It’s interesting to me that it’s only ever adults who push the issue, and try to find out why not, and decide that we’re just no fun, but that’s a different issue. Anyway, my children are not out to spread the word about the truth behind Santa, and as far as I know, they’ve never ruined it for anybody. We’re just considerate that way.

So why is it, then, that the same consideration doesn’t go both ways? Why must the public school continue to shove Santa down my son’s throat, even though I’ve let them know that we don’t play that game, and even though they know that children with autism already have a hard enough time separating fact from fiction? This has been especially frustrating this year, as Moose now seems  to be getting confused about the issue, and is starting to lose focus about the true meaning of the season.

Let’s try to look at this objectively. An atheist comes to the public school administration, and says that they don’t want their children learning about God or the Bible, which they consider, (falsely, but I digress), to be untrue. The school’s response? Obviously, quick out with the Gospel! The sooner the better, too. No questions asked, no debate, it’s gone. And we’ve seen this happen in our society, so this isn’t simply a hypothetical…it’s verifiably true.

Now, say a parent goes to the school administration, and says that they don’t want their children learning about Santa, who is obviously a fake…all adults know this. The school’s response? It’s all in fun! We’re encouraging the children to use their imaginations! You can’t get through this time of year without having Santa in the classroom! Again, we watch this happen in our society. Santa is clung to by the school system like a life-preserver–you simply can’t make it through December in early childhood education without him!

Notice the disconnect? I’m not “allowed” to keep my child from Santa, even though he’s not permitted to learn what I know to be the truth in school. And you know what? I don’t even care that he can’t learn about the true Reason for the season in school! There are so many different denominations out there, they’d probably just botch the whole thing, and confuse his beliefs anyway. We, and our church, are fully capable of teaching him about God and the Bible, and we do so gladly. But I would really like it if the same veto could be put on this Santa nonsense. Kick the fat elf out of schools, and let parents focus on it at home if they so desire. Short of keeping Moose home from school the entire month of December, (which I’m pretty sure is not even an option legally), I have no way of avoiding this whole mess, and I’m just tired of having to deal with it.