- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Parenting
How many of you "lie" to your children about santa?
A very religious friend of mine recently posted on FB about how she does not lie to her children about Santa because she does not want them to later question whether she has also lied about God. She stated that this has caused problems for her children and herself because people always ask : "Is Santa coming to you house?" or "What will Santa bring you for Christmas?" Her children will state that Santa is not real. Some people reprimand them because they spoil the fun for their children. The mom even get reprimanded!
What do you think about this? How would you react if someone/ a child ruined your fun about Santa? Honestly, I think I wish I went her route because keeping up the Santa gig is difficult.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: How many of you "lie" to your children about santa?
I'd be ticked, too. If parents are going to ruin the fun for their own kids, they need to make sure their kids understand the no-tell plan. I'd love to meet a parent who has never lied to their kid in any way.
I think it would be great if she could teach her children to say "we don't celebrate santa at our house" instead of saying "santa isn't real."
I'd be annoyed if a child and especially an adult outed Santa to my kids.
It is not their place to do so, for one thing. Self righteous comes to mind. But more than that: I believe in Santa. I believed in him when I was a little kid, found him out as a bigger kid, forgot about him as a teenager and young adult, and then found him again when I became a parent.
He's as real as they come.
Anyway, if someone told my kid Santa wasn't real, I'd tell them that they were wrong, mistaken. Santa is real for anyone who believes. Just like God.
****shitstorm to follow****
Reallllllly? ANY lie to my child is going to make them believe less in Jesus...
Well, there was the one time the remote was broken because I didn't want the TV on.....LIE
There was one time the brocolli slaw wrap was made from lettuce because my DD believed she hated brocolli, but she loved it and THEN I told her it was brocolli...LIE
The noises in our bedroom? Just me laughing at a TV show.....LIE
The ice cream truck ice cream is NASTY.....LIE
No toy in the happy meal....LIE
I tell lies to my kids ALLLLL the freaking time....there is a pretty good chance they will grow up heathens........
OMG- I'm dying here, this is hilarious!!!!
What kills me is that there are OTHER ways to incorporate Santa that are perfectly religiously based.
Santa comes from the story of Saint Nicholas - who was a real man, cannonized by the Catholic Church for his extremely strong faith. He is revered by the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican Churches (this one being protestant).
This sanctimonious Mother could very well have gone the Saint Nicholas route, following the traditions of his story to at least keep her kids from being Grinches.
And seriously, if this woman is that obsessive, then she needs to take most of her christmas decorations down. Because almost everything we use, from the red and green colors to christmas trees to misteltoe, to the very day used to celebrate Christmas were PAGAN religious traditions and cerimonial accrutraments (spelling is off since its nto even 7am for me here) first.
Personally, I would throw that back in her face, infront of her kids, since she doesnt really care about my kids feelings. But then again, I do not put up with hypocritical religious people....and I am a Christian. But, I recognize the reality of my religious beliefs.
From someone who does not "do" Santa, first one needs to recognize that you are not the norm. I'm a Christian, but most Christians I know also do Santa. I think it's sh!tty take on her attitude & to not acknowledge that most people do this, and you are bound to ruin it for other children whose families have a lot of fun w/Santa.
We have had extensive conversations with our kids about how we do NOT tell other kids because it's like telling a surprise & it will ruin it. My 6yo totally gets it - she'd never say a word. My 3yo did say something to a preschool classmate & I immediately nipped it in the bud. But she's 3- I didn't expect her get it all the way, and I think we handled it well. It never came up again.
Santa is DHs gig. I don't say anything either way. I hate the manipulation for good behavior-- H has been pushing it hard, and I know it's going to backfire badly in about 9 days.
I will cheer the day DS figures out that the fat man is not real. I don't think it's going to last more than another year. He's already noticed that there are different Santas on each commercial or store.
ETA: we are Orthdox, and there is a St. Nicholas party at church each year. He's NOT dressed as the fat man in a red velvet suit, though. LOL
DS - December 2006
DD - December 2008
Well, as a Christian, she should know that December 25th is not the actual birthdate of Jesus Christ. Maybe injecting a little truth into the holiday would help ease her mind about Santa.
We celebrate Christmas, with Santa and all. My 9 year old asked me flat out if Santa was real this year, and was insistent on a straight answer. Before I said anything, the first thing I said was that he has 2 younger brothers and it is important that he not ruin the fun of Santa for them. Then I listened to what he thought about Santa, and decided he'd had enough of the "fun."
She wrote this up in a long note. Apparently she has taught her kids to just stare, but I was also thinking that December 25th is not Jesus's birthdate and really a pagan celebration. Not really religous at all, so why make all the fuss? She is not Catholic so the whole Saint thing wouldn't work either.
I just thought this was an interesting topic to debate. To each their own.
I am a BIG FAT LIAR. And my parents lied to me and their parent lied to them and so forth. And not one of them is sitting around 60 years later making a big brew-ha-ha that someone once lied to them about Santa Claus. This is just another way that people now days just over think $hit. I get its a choice and I get there are other religions and some want to keep "Jesus as the Reason for the Season" (we do too! but still do Santa) but to not do Santa just because its "lying" is completely silly. I too tell little white lies to my children daily. I agree with letting them get wrapped up in the magic. I have found memories of those days...and no harsh feelings about "being lied to."
If someone told my children Santa wasn't real then I'd tell my children "they don't know what they are talking about and poor them, not going to get anything from Santa, oh well more for you..." And I might just say it in front of their parents if it all went down in a snobbish way....
I guess my response would be:
"Oh! I guess santa never comes to their house...how sad...I wonder why?"
lolz.
jerks.
I would personally kick her arse if she said that in front of me. It's not a lie, its a childhood rite of passage
Our priest talks about Santa at Christmas mass. What does her priest say about it?
L-R: Liam (7), Eimhin (6) and Fionn (4)! (Irish names)
Too busy to update the pics for now ...
I totally agree. I would think that most well adjusted children would be disappointed to hear Santa is not real, but still grateful for the years of magic the "lie" provided...at least that's what I felt when I found out the truth ;-)
I'd be hella pissed if the offspring of some self-righteous douche ruined it for my children.
And she does not go out of her way to "ruin" the magic for others, but when adults ask her kids they tell them Santa isn't coming because he is not real or say nothing at all.
to each their own.
not everyone celebrates Christmas.
not everyone celebrates Christmas as "Jesus' birthday"
not everyone celebrates Christmas as a Santa holiday
we do celebrate it with a birthday cake to Jesus and a Santa leaving gifts. We live in a very diverse city full of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Agnostics, Atheists and more. Dd's bff is Christian but her family does not do Christmas. the bible doesn't say the 25th is the date he was born and much of our modern day tradition can be tied with old pagan traditions, so they don't do it. and they don't do Santa. Dd's bff has already announced to their friends (they were all talking about visiting Santa and her daddy said there's no such thing... I mean, that's tough for 5 y/o to have that convo... her mom would probably be mortified if she knew. the dad could probably care less). dd has another friend who doesn't celebrate Christmas b/c they're Jewish. Dd and I talked about differences in belief.... and that Santa doesn't visit those homes out of respect for the parents' beliefs. but that was a minor part of the convo... we mainly talked about what Santa means to us. The spirit of the season. I didn't want her to think anyone was wrong in their belief, just that people can believe different things. She still believes in Santa. I probably believed less at her age thanks to my older brothers.
I tend to chuckle over the outrage people have when they hear other families do not do Santa. Do you have outrage when you find out other families do not believe in God? or Jesus? or Yahweh ? People get more upset over the Santa thing... someone you know is not physically real... than they do over their God and their Faith. You don't worry about the kid in school who will say that Jesus didn't exist? or that he does and your family is wrong for believing otherwise?
I don't see the outrage in teaching my children that families are different... even when it comes to Santa. (dh thinks differently).
I'm not a parent yet, but I had to weigh in about this one. My parents did the same thing for the exact same reason. I was never lied to about Santa, or the tooth fairy, or the easter bunny. I was, however, lied to about God and Jesus.
I'm not a parent yet, but I had to weigh in about this one. My parents did the same thing for the exact same reason. I was never lied to about Santa, or the tooth fairy, or the easter bunny. I was, however, lied to about God and Jesus.
I do see the point of other posters saying, "what happens if someone tells your child that Jesus isn't real?" It does seem like you are getting more upset about Santa being outed than Jesus being outed.
Ditto X 1,000