Dec6

do you believe?

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teen girls at the mall seek out santa

where teen girls are

teen boys can’t be far behind

“kids believe in Santa; adults believe in childhood.” 

-cate kennedy

british/australian author, poet, writing professor, editor

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The phrase “kids believe in Santa, adults believe in childhood” means children naturally accept magical figures like Santa as real, embodying wonder, while adults see Santa as a symbol of generosity, family, tradition, and the magical innocence of youth, realizing the idea of Santa (giving) is more important than the literal person, often transferring that spirit to their own acts of giving and preserving that joy for the next generation. It highlights the shift from literal belief to understanding symbolic meaning as we grow, with adults becoming the keepers of the “magic” for kids.

teens are somewhere in the middle,

still wanting to believe in the magic

but knowing the truth.

 

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67 responses »

  2. I used to believe in santa until I was 7 years old. That year I woke up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve to see my dad stacking presents at the end of my bed. Then the magic was gone forever. 🎄🎅
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  4. I teach preteens and teach science in a middle school. They want to believe so bad but they’re conflicted and want to be cool. Oh how I wish we can all be curious and full of wonder for the remainder of our lives. Oh, that would be so wonderful. Thank you.

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  12. I remember when I got to that age where I could peel back the curtain on the whole Santa ruse and expose it…but I decided at that time I liked the “magic” better than the reality, and have kept that up to this day.🎅

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  16. We were in a store and I told my kids there was no Santa and explained it to them. My son looked at my daughter and said, “Don’t believe her, he’s sitting right there.” Sigh. I didn’t want to lie to them, but a man dressed in a costume was apparently more believable than I was.

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  20. Our oldest son was a real skeptic at a very young age. When he was three years old a lady at the mall asked him what he wanted from Santa. His answer was “I think it is the same with Santa as it is with God, it is a lie adults make up to make children behave.” I have no idea where he got that from. My guess is that he saw through the Santa at the mall, as a dressed up man pretending to be Santa. A somewhat shocking but funny answer.

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  24. Very elegantly worded! I encouraged the myth in my kids by going so far as to build a snowman on Christmas Eve once, complete with a carrot nose, and then surreptitiously taking a few bites out of it before discarding it on the sidewalk for the kids to find the next morning. Gotta admit, that certainly impressed Audrey and Rusty!

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