Parents have said they "refuse to lie" to their daughter about Santa but insist they're not "taking away any magic". Mathew Bourdreaux, 46, and Aurelian, 44, a music teacher, say they find "honesty is the best policy" when it comes to parenting.
Rather than insisting Father Christmas is real, the parents ask their daughter, Helena, nine, if she wants to play ‘make-believe’ and pretend they're real. But they say the schoolgirl knows Santa doesn't exist and her dads are 'playing along' to 'keep her happy'.
Mathew insists the family "don't want to participate in large scale global gaslighting" - making children question their own reality - and says the couple decided they "would never deceive" their little girl. According to Mathew, lying to your children for years can cause psychological trauma when they eventually find out the truth.
Mathew, a crafter, said: “Parents don’t need to tell any of their kids Santa or the tooth fairy is real - why would I participate in this large scale global gaslighting? Before adopting our child, we researched parenting and thought of the potential psychological impact lying could have.
“We decided we would never deceive her – parents don’t need to tell any of their kids this is real. It has normalised group lying and deception, it doesn't need to be a part of society, " added Mathew.
The dad-of-one said their daughter didn't know whether Santa was real or not when she was little. But when she reached the age of three in the holiday season, their daughter started asking questions about Santa.
They told her Santa wasn’t real and the stories behind the traditions, but they could carry on 'pretending' if she wanted to. "It wasn't a sit down conversation, she started to ask questions and have an awareness of him.
"She asked who he was and it's at this point most parents say he's real- we decided not to. From my perspective, we’re having a blast pretending," Mathew said.
“The magic never ends and pretend never ends we decorate the house with homemade decorations, make cookies, exchange presents, get up super early and spend quality time together as a family."
The only mythical creatures the nine-year-old cares for is Santa and the tooth fairy- she doesn't ask her dads about the Easter bunny. On the surface, their Christmas is the same as anyone else’s.
Mathew said: "We train children not to 'imagine' and by playing make-believe we can encourage them to use their imagination and creativity. There is a morality in lying and not lying - the second choice is the right choice.
“I’m not taking away any magic - I didn’t create this mess.”
Parents often ask why Mathew and Aurelian choose to tell Helena the about Santa and sometimes get aggressive in the comments of their videos - refusing to listen to their response. “By not lying, there is no lie to burst - we live in a world where nobody can tell the difference between real and fake,” Mathew said.
The dads hope to raise their daughter "to be humble and appreciative" so don’t spoil her rotten on Christmas day - instead giving her a handful of presents and celebrating being together as a family.
When it comes to the tooth fairy, Helena is aware Mathew is the one putting a dollar under her pillow, but she still finds it just as exciting. “Honesty is the most important component of parenting, and the truth is the way you should go,” Mathew said.
