SPOILER ALERT: Don't show this to your kids.
Talk about crushing dreams.
FOX Chicago news anchor Robin Robinson was under fire earlier this week for saying Santa Claus doesn't exist.
Robinson made the remarks on the evening newscast. Around the 2:55 mark in the video shown above she says parents should stop trying to convince their kids that Santa is Santa and as soon kids are able to talk, they should be told the "truth."
"Santa is a symbol of the generosity of the season. You go sit on his lap and we'll take a picture," Robinson says to her co-anchor. "But he's not coming down the chimney, he's not eating those cookies, he's not bringing you anything."
"My jaw dropped when I heard her say there was no Santa," Annette Kennedy Muller wrote on Facebook while viewer Laura Gravgaard Vlaming says, "Robin, it's not your right to tell EVERYONE's kids this!"
Following the 9 p.m. broadcast, the station received several phone calls, emails and online comments from angry viewers. Robinson was forced to apologize but this time she warned kids to leave the room.
"It was careless and callous to say what I said," she says.
Story Continues Below: Robin Robinson apologizing on FOX Chicago news
This isn't the first time adults have made the naughty list during the holidays. A second grade grade teacher In New York, was recently accused of being a real Scrooge after she told her students Santa Claus wasn't real. The teacher, who was covering the North Pole with her students, also said parents filled stockings instead of St. Nick.
In 2008, a primary school teacher in the U.K. was fired after telling her students Santa was a fake. The supply teacher blurted out, "It's your parents who leave out presents on Christmas Day," which left many students in tears.
Hey, it's not just the adults. The Gosselin kids from the now cancelled "Kate Plus 8," were accused of telling their 6-year-old classmates that Santa Claus was fake. Their representatives, however, denied the accusations.
But what should we be telling our kids?
Writer Marie Hartwell-Walker says there is a right time to slip in the truth.
"Somewhere around 6 or 7 or 8, your child poses that dreaded question. It can mark the end of a certain kind of innocence for the child and an end of a fun chapter of parenting for the adults."
She says considering the age and stage they're in will alter their reaction.
"Some kids respond to the news that Santa is a story with relief. They needed to have their perception of reality confirmed. Others respond with anger at their parents for having "lied" to them. They need help understanding that participating in a sweet story of childhood is not a fundamental betrayal of trust," she says.
How did you break the news about Santa to your kids? Let us know in the comments below.