As a parent, it's up to you to be the adult who decides when and how to tell your kids the "truth" about Santa. Right? Well, not if you live in a certain suburban Dallas school district.

Guess what, kids? There's no such thing as Santa Claus! That's what a suburban Dallas music teacher told first-graders on Monday - and the school's been hearing from parents ever since.

The angry phone calls prompted the Richardson school district to issue a pro-Santa statement. The district announced that the offending teacher had heard from Santa Claus himself -- who assured the teacher that "the spirit of the holidays is alive and well."

Oh, so much to comment on here.

First of all, having seen Music of my Heart, I recognize the absolute world-changing importance of elementary school music teachers. (OK, I didn't see that movie, but I saw a TV commercial for it. Same thing.) Anyway, I realize that, without the critical work of America's elementary school music teachers, there'd be nobody to teach our kids to play the triangle or dance the Macarena. In my view, elementary school music teachers are right up there with air-traffic controllers, paramedics and policemen... and I CERTAINLY DON'T THINK OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAMS AS A WASTE OF TIME AND TAX MONEY. OH, NOOOOOOO.

Nonetheless, what was going on in Richardson? Did this teacher have a momentary brain fart, forget what her real job is, and try, in the spur of the moment, to actually teach something?

I think we all see how that worked out.

Memo to Richardson Texas elementary school music teachers: We'll tell our kids about Santa, you let them bang on bongos.