I knew it would happen one day, but this one was a doozy…and I’m thinking someone may end up paying for it with her job.

Apparently a news anchor expressed her opinion during prime time that the easiest way to handle Christmas in these tough economic times was to tell children that there is no Santa Claus. Wow. I’m guessing the big guy’s gonna have some coal for someone’s stocking this year.

Now, as a mother of four children, oldest age 9, I’m constantly bombarded by the question, “Mom, is Santa real?” And my answer is always the same, “What do you want to believe?”

To me, the answer is simple. In a day when we are hit with so much bad news, so much doom and gloom, so many heart aches and issues, why do we need to pop the bubble of happiness that surrounds the Christmas season? Yes, my children know that celebrating Christmas is ALL about the birth of Jesus and what He has sacrificed for us. Christmas is a religious holiday in our house. Always has been, always will be. But does believing that someone delivers a gift for you, without expecting anything in return, all that different?

My children have never been told that a man in a red suit and reindeer is at our house. We don’t have a fireplace, and cookies aren’t always left. Sometimes we’re home, and sometimes we’re not. They know that the Santa’s in the mall are not the “real” Santa. And whatever else they have made up in their mind, is just that, their own beliefs.

Telling the world during the newscast that the solution to your financial woes at Christmas is to break your children’s hearts and tell them that the mystery surrounding Christmas is fake…well, that’s just plain mean. And I can tell you for a fact that it’s not true. There is a Santa Claus. He might not live at the north pole, he might not like cookies and he may be allergic to reindeer fur, but he’s real and he’s important and he lives inside each and every one of us.

And if you don’t believe it, then why would a woman from North Dakota set up a project to send gifts to and from people all around the country? (Speaking of which, click on the blue angel in the top right corner…I’m looking for more angels!) Why would a company set up red kettles throughout the country, knowing that others will give when they can? And why would children willingly give up their gifts, to another child that they know would appreciate it more?

God and santa CAN coexist…I’m pretty sure both big guys are OK with that. I know I am.