It’s so important to promote an imaginative belief

This past week I saw a post relating to terminating a children belief in father xmas because the parent in question did not want to carry on lying to her child, the post went on to mention though that it would not mean stopping the belief of the younger child and that this would be a great test for the older child not to pop the younger ones bubble.

I was extremely taken aback from this post firstly because I do not see how the promotion of a child’s imagination constitutes lying to them and secondly because I do not see how it is fair to the child in question to not only pop their bubble because you find it inconvenient but also to expect them to carry on encouraging the younger child because of their age.

Personally I know many parents who have not brought their children up with the belief of the tooth fairy or santa or the easter bunny and that is fine if you make that choice from the start then fine however those children as I have seen are still taught to not pop the bubbles of other children who believe which is great.

Personally I am a huge scrooge when it comes to xmas, the crowded malls and overpriced toys lead to utter chaos and that aside other than the fact that I personally do not believe in what many believe to be the story behind xmas ie christ birthday and therefore the holiday is not one I would celebrate at all if I did not have kids.

BUT I do have kids one of which has Asperger's syndrome and one of many noted issues with children with this disorder is a lack of imaginative play or lack of unstructured play and this has caused so many issues over the years that we try to encourage his imagination at every opportunity possible, imagination is so incredibly important for the development of a child, ask any teacher or any psychologist or psychiatrist more so than I think most parents or people realize and while I may not believe or may find the celebrations chaotic and inconvenient I don’t see why I should discourage my children if they are happy and comfortable within their believe, I mean I still believe in fairies no joke and so do my kids and I will allow them to foster that belief until they are ready to let it go and if they are ready to let it go.

I recently had a conversation whereby my 9 year old expressed a bit of skepticism in his belief of santa and the easter bunny, my response was that it was his choice whether to believe or not but that he is not to discourage others if they believe or tell them that they are wrong, he agreed and I still cannot tell you if he has let go of that belief or not but as long as he doesn’t hurt another children feelings by telling them they are wrong I am happy.

Children are only small for so long why ruin it.