totally different topic, but I really don't like how we lie to children about Santa and these elves. And the surveillance concept is weird problem in itself.

We, as adults, create such a fabricated lie to fool our kids. Only to have them have to learn about it someway or another. Sometimes in traumatizing ways for kids who really buy into it.

My ex really pushed the Santa thing too far with my kids. My youngest son was a pretty bright kid but totally gobbling up the NORAD Santa shit. One day I asked him during this NORAD obsession (he was around 8 years old): "you don't really believe Santa is real do you? Flying around in a sled around the world". He started to cry. Fuck if that did not kill me inside. To be an accomplice to a lie that crushed my kid and for him to finally learn the truth from me. I look over to his brother who was over 11-12, and for fucks sake if he wasn't crying as well and I then realized that HE WAS STILL BELIEVING IN SANTA at his age.

I sure did make dad of the year . My Ex sure didn't like that. We got divorced not that long afterwards.

Around that same time my oldest was believing dragons were real because of some kids book his mother gave him that looked like an educational dinosaur book. It vividly described and illustrated the dragons their natural habitat and behaviors with colorful realistic art. I had to tell him the truth that the dragons in that book where not real even though it look like it. He cried. The irony was, my EX hated those discovery channel shows with computer generated dinosaurs and narration pretending to be scientific nature shows. She would criticize those shows because she had a zoology degree and knew the dangers of passing off pseudo science like that to those who may think it is real. children AND adults.

so yea. I hate lies with a passion.