Sorry for the aside, but need to get this off my chest somewhere.
Was in the car with my 8 year old yesterday afternoon and we were talking about Christmas plans. I was about to bring up what he wanted from Santa, but paused. and asked him if he believes in Santa Claus. He immediately said no, that he came to that conclusion a while ago. For a second I thought "that's kind of a bummer" but then realized I was happy about it.
We don't live in a world anymore where that fantasy is healthy for kids to hold on to IMO. We are in a post-fact world, being gaslit and fed lies from this entire presidential administration and online through social media and other avenues on a hourly basis. Fucking AI has infiltrated everything too, making it difficult for people (especially children) to know what's real or not. Trump's America is a fucking disaster.
When we were growing up, we lived in a truth-based environment, or at least it was perceived that way from all of society. So Santa Claus was a fun thing to dream about and believe in. But truth is almost dead. I'm spitting nothing but hard facts to my child so he can live a life that is genuine and moral and real. IMO that's how we should "protect" them moving forward.