The Truth About Rudolph
A Christmas Story
“Dad, what do you think about Rudolph?” Three year old Christopher turned to look at me for an answer.
“Rudolph who?” I answered. My eyes moved quickly from Christopher’s to the traffic on the road ahead. We were on our morning trek from our house to Nana and Grandpa’s house.
“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” he said, as though I should have known. “Do you think he is real? A lot of the pictures of Santa Claus show Santa and the other reindeer, but they don’t show Rudolph. You only see Rudolph’s picture in the book about Rudolph. Do you think he is real?”
“I don’t know, what do you think?” I responded. Our morning treks were full of deep philosophical discussions. This morning would be no different.
“Well, I think Rudolph is like a cartoon character. Santa doesn’t really have a reindeer like Rudolph, he made him up.” Christopher seemed firm in his position.
“Who made up Rudolph?”
“Santa! You know, Santa makes a lot of things. Why couldn’t he make up Rudolph?” His point was well founded.
“Why would Santa make up Rudolph?” I really wanted to know.
“For the books, Dad, he did it for the books. He wanted to make books for Christmas, so he made up Rudolph. But then kids began to believe that Rudolph was real.” Christopher paused and thought. “I’ll bet Santa doesn’t want to hurt the kid’s feelings, so he acts as though Rudolph is real.”
“Well let’s say you are right. If Santa made up Rudolph and the kids began to believe in Rudolph, is it right for Santa not to tell the kids the truth, that Rudolph is only a story?” I thought he would have to think for a while on this question. But Christopher responded immediately.
“Of course it is right. Rudolph is a neat story. Why would Santa want to wreck it for the kids? I think Santa is right, so don’t you tell kids the truth about Rudolph!” He looked at me waiting for a response.
“O.K.” I responded, as we pulled into Nana and Grandpa’s driveway.
“Good. And don’t tell Nana and Grandpa either, they really like Rudolph too.”
Copyright 2025 Thomas Dean
The Santa graphic is from Canva.
Good One
Thomas, this is delightful — equal parts tender and disarming! Christopher’s logic is impeccable, and that final line made me laugh out loud. There’s something quietly wise here about how stories work: not as facts to be proven, but as truths we choose to protect because they bring joy. A perfect reminder, especially this time of year, that imagination doesn’t need defending — it just needs space.
💛 Kelly