For kids who celebrate Christmas, December is the most magical time of year. There are festive lights everywhere, magical elves scamper through the house making mischief at night, and, of course, there's the big guy who's going to bring them everything they want on Christmas morning: Santa Claus. But behind the magic, there's us parents, trying desperately to juggle the lies and keep the magic alive. It's a job that gets tougher every year, as our kids grow ever older and more skeptical, and this viral post just nailed exactly what it's like to try to hold it together when your kid starts asking the really hard questions.
Imgur user Romobyl rewrote the iconic courtroom scene from "A Few Good Men" to show a conversation between a dad and his kid on Christmas Eve.
The post uses captions (note: there's no sound) to turn Tom Cruise into the curious boy who's ready to call bullsh*t on Santa, and Jack Nicholson is the weary dad who knows his son simply "can't handle the truth." But that doesn't stop Cruise from pressing his "dad" about the most glaring plot hole in the entire Santa legend.
"If Santa Claus sees everything we do, and knows everything we say, then why do we have to write him a letter?"
"Why would it be necessary to tell him what I want?" Cruise (aka every brilliant child between the ages of 6 and 10) asks.
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Batting for Team Parent, Nicholson tries to come up with a good excuse.
"Santa Claus is a very busy man," he says. "Sometimes he needs a list to give to the elves …"
But Cruise is too smart. "No, Daddy," he says. "You made it clear a moment ago that Santa doesn't need a letter. He sees everything we do."
Then the "kid" starts putting the pieces together, and things spiral out of control.
"You and Mommy put those gifts under the tree, don't you?" he yells. "Because that's what a bunch of the kids at school are saying. And when I fall asleep, you sneak those gifts down from the attic! You fill the stockings with candy! You eat the cookies we leave on that plate, and even the carrots we set out for the reindeer! Just tell me, Daddy. IS SANTA CLAUS REAL?"
The tension builds until finally, Nicholson spits the phrase we all have buried in the backs of our minds every time a kid tries to poke a hole in the legend.
"You can't handle the truth," he says. "I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom … You asked for things like Legos, a skateboard, a Nintendo Switch. You see these things as cool stuff you get for free just for asking. I see them as Christmas magic. And I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a boy who rises and sleeps under the official star Wars bedsheet he asked for last year, and then questions the manner in which he acquired it!"
OMG, it's too real. It's TOO. REAL.
As the mom of a very curious 6-year-old who's already interrogating me about the most minute details of the Santa story, I fully intend to memorize this monologue. It's hard when kids start asking questions! And not only because we want them to hush and go to sleep, or because we're struggling to come up with answers — but also for another important reason …
As the clip points out at the end, we don't want kids to know the truth, because we're not ready for them to grow up.
They only believe in Santa for so long, and it's a magical, precious time we wish we could hold on to forever. So no, maybe they can't handle the truth. But secretly, neither can we.
