Santa?

ALane1128

Saw this on another board and it made me think...Will you tell your LO that Santa is real or fake? Or will you just see what happens? Will you tell them by a certain age that Santa isn't real? Do you think it's mean to tell a child from the beginning that he isn't real? 

 

ssimon621

I'm really torn with this, but I'm glad I have at least two Christmases to make a decision.  I never believed in Santa and I definitely don't think my childhood was ruined because of it.  We still loved Christmas and always got lots of gifts.  And after seeing quite a few friends completely heartbroken and angry with their parents about it I just don't know what to do.

DH said his parent's sort of did the Santa thing, but didn't make a big deal out of it.  I was thinking if I do it Santa will only fill the stockings and bring one gift and the rest will be from Mom and Dad.  Why should he get all the credit anyway!!

kristin172429

Wait?  What is this about Santa??  That dude is totally real and he's awesome.  We will tell Ben all about him.  He can decide if he ever wants to stop believing...he'll just have to play along for his mommy!! 

firewife9278

We're going to play Santa. We won't tell her that he's not real, that will come with time.

HappyToBe2012

firewife9278:

We're going to play Santa. We won't tell her that he's not real, that will come with time.

This.

sooner1981

Of course we are going to play along.  You only get one shot in life to truly appreciate wonder through the eyes of a child and to believe in mystery, magic, etc.  When C becomes an adult, she can put away her childish things--but not until then!

ETA:  When we go home to my parents' house for Christmas, my siblings (and my husband and I) still get presents from "Santa."  And we still "thank Santa" for all the fun stuff.  In fact, my parents now get presents from "Santa" as well...  Why not.  It is all fun and games!

lancyjo

sooner1981:

Of course we are going to play along.  You only get one shot in life to truly appreciate wonder through the eyes of a child and to believe in mystery, magic, etc.  When C becomes an adult, she can put away her childish things--but not until then!

ETA:  When we go home to my parents' house for Christmas, my siblings (and my husband and I) still get presents from "Santa."  And we still "thank Santa" for all the fun stuff.  In fact, my parents now get presents from "Santa" as well...  Why not.  It is all fun and games!

This

poobear2015

kristin172429:

Wait?  What is this about Santa??  That dude is totally real and he's awesome.  We will tell Ben all about him.  He can decide if he ever wants to stop believing...he'll just have to play along for his mommy!! 

Haha I mean - have you never seen The Santa Clause? lol seriously though - I'm doing the santa thing. And Santa will probably continue to leave gifts well into when she no longer believes (just for her younger siblings sake).

My youngest sibling is 17. Santa still leaves us gifts. And my mom will continue to do that now for Hayley's sake. 

 

kittyh8r

We will talk about Santa as a fairy tale person. He won't be known as the one who gives presents. We're alllllll about fairy tales. (: 

SrhA1984

HappyToBe2012:

firewife9278:

We're going to play Santa. We won't tell her that he's not real, that will come with time.

This.

This for us too.

MollySm

We will definitely do Santa! I'm so excited for Christmas in a couple of years when she can get excited about it! Growing up we believed in Santa and the elves, and even when we stopped believing, they were still a huge part of our holiday celebrations!

jmccall79

We 'did' Santa, but we always knew he was fake.  Like we went and saw Santa each year for pics, Santa brought us presents and filled our stocking.  But we just always knew that he was just a man in a suit.  I'll probably do the same with Ian.  Though we knew he wasn't real, it was still fun.

I'll stay off my "mean" bandwagon on this, been there done that before on here...but I'll say I think it's somewhat 'mean' to tell them for years that he's real and then tell them he's not.

Oh, and we'll do the same for the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy.  Again, I always knew they weren't 'real' but it was fun anyway.

redheadscu

We're totally going to do Santa. DS just got his picture taken with him at the mall yesterday (though, of course, he has no concept of Santa; it was more just for mommy to have a picture). We are also going to "Breakfast with Santa" in a couple weeks with his cousins. They are a little older, so they're at the right age. We'll just be there for the pancakes.

I almost blew it last year though, discussing the Santa that comes to my Uncle's house to see the kids on Christmas Eve. It just so happens, in the "off season" he plays a clown. I didn't realize my neice was in listening distance. She didn't seem to have heard me, and asked when she gets to see Santa this year, so I think I'm off the hook!

Jen0204

I can't roll my eyes hard enough at the notion that telling your kids Santa is real is mean.  I'm not directing this at you, ALane, but I've seen it mentioned on these boards (not ours in particular) that telling your kid that Santa is real is cruel and causes emotional trauma when they find out he's not.  Seriously???  I completely agree with Sooner that you only get a chance to be a kid once (unless you're male - jk!) and intend on letting the girls believe in all of this stuff.

MrMrsandBaby

We won't really "do" Santa the way you are referring to it.  We will absolutely not tell Allison that he isn't real...more like we will just go with it and when she asks we will use the "What do you think?" line.  DH and I are in agreement (for now!) that we won't ever say yes or no to Santa, as long as she wants to believe we will let her.

That being said, she will get one or two gifts from "Santa" every year - maybe the stocking? - but most will be from us.

I don't think there is a right or wrong way to handle the Santa question.

I honestly could put this more eloquently but I'm tired of typing today!

 

OH!  And I almost forgot - we will be teaching her that Christmas is NOT all about gifts.  We will teach her that it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus.  I think that is more important that how she feels about Santa.

ALane1128

Jen0204:

I can't roll my eyes hard enough at the notion that telling your kids Santa is real is mean.  I'm not directing this at you, ALane, but I've seen it mentioned on these boards (not ours in particular) that telling your kid that Santa is real is cruel and causes emotional trauma when they find out he's not.  Seriously???  I completely agree with Sooner that you only get a chance to be a kid once (unless you're male - jk!) and intend on letting the girls believe in all of this stuff.

I know you're not directing that at me cause that's not what I believe LOL I asked the question because I was totally lurking a TON of boards this morning and was reading a couple debates on Santa. 

NatesLady1309

No Santa in our house. She will know who Santa is but we will not "play" Santa. 

Lawren

We're doing Santa, but he's going to know the real meaning of Christmas.

We have some friends that have always let their kids know that Santa isn't real and one day she came home from pre-school crying because she wanted to know why Santa went to all of her friends houses but not hers. Meanies.

kittyh8r

I get seriously frustrated when people insinuate that my daughter is going to miss out on alllllllll the fun. My oldest SIL thinks I am the devil because we won't be doing the whole Santa thing. She thinks Emma is going to be the ruiner of Christmas. Emma will know of Santa as a fairy tale character and when she gets old enough to understand we'll tell her not to tell other children that Santa is fake. My SIL has gone far enough to say that when Emma is old enough to talk, she won't be allowed near her children during the Christmas season. Um, okay...not sure what she thinks is going to happen when we all get together for Christmas as a family. 

I believed in Santa when I was little. I had fun and everything, but I also remember praying TO Santa. haha It sounds silly, but I don't want Christmas to be about gifts for Emma. We will obviously still do gifts on Christmas, but we'll be doing 3 presents because that's how many Jesus got on Christmas. We'll also have fun with it too. We're planning on making a bunch of traditions that Emma can look forward to every year.  I don't want people to think that because we won't be talking about Santa that Emma is going to miss out. She will have plenty of opportunity to let her imagination run wild. I ALSO don't want people to think that we're those people who are crazy religious and can only think about JESUS! haha 

sooner1981

EmmaBoBemma:

I get seriously frustrated when people insinuate that my daughter is going to miss out on alllllllll the fun. My oldest SIL thinks I am the devil because we won't be doing the whole Santa thing. She thinks Emma is going to be the ruiner of Christmas. Emma will know of Santa as a fairy tale character and when she gets old enough to understand we'll tell her not to tell other children that Santa is fake. My SIL has gone far enough to say that when Emma is old enough to talk, she won't be allowed near her children during the Christmas season. Um, okay...not sure what she thinks is going to happen when we all get together for Christmas as a family. 

I believed in Santa when I was little. I had fun and everything, but I also remember praying TO Santa. haha It sounds silly, but I don't want Christmas to be about gifts for Emma. We will obviously still do gifts on Christmas, but we'll be doing 3 presents because that's how many Jesus got on Christmas. We'll also have fun with it too. We're planning on making a bunch of traditions that Emma can look forward to every year.  I don't want people to think that because we won't be talking about Santa that Emma is going to miss out. She will have plenty of opportunity to let her imagination run wild. I ALSO don't want people to think that we're those people who are crazy religious and can only think about JESUS! haha 

Just going to throw this out here, but I don't think it is too common to get Santa mixed up with Jesus/God.  At least, among my group of friends, we all believed in Santa when we were younger, but also believed in God and absolutely knew that the reason we celebrated Christmas was because of Jesus' birth.  Having fun with Santa and understanding the true meaning of Christmas are certainly not mutually exclusive--and I side eye anyone (not you Emma--but just people IRL) who say "my child isn't going to believe in Santa because WE are Christians."  That line of reasoning simply isn't logical.

kittyh8r

sooner1981:

EmmaBoBemma:

I get seriously frustrated when people insinuate that my daughter is going to miss out on alllllllll the fun. My oldest SIL thinks I am the devil because we won't be doing the whole Santa thing. She thinks Emma is going to be the ruiner of Christmas. Emma will know of Santa as a fairy tale character and when she gets old enough to understand we'll tell her not to tell other children that Santa is fake. My SIL has gone far enough to say that when Emma is old enough to talk, she won't be allowed near her children during the Christmas season. Um, okay...not sure what she thinks is going to happen when we all get together for Christmas as a family. 

I believed in Santa when I was little. I had fun and everything, but I also remember praying TO Santa. haha It sounds silly, but I don't want Christmas to be about gifts for Emma. We will obviously still do gifts on Christmas, but we'll be doing 3 presents because that's how many Jesus got on Christmas. We'll also have fun with it too. We're planning on making a bunch of traditions that Emma can look forward to every year.  I don't want people to think that because we won't be talking about Santa that Emma is going to miss out. She will have plenty of opportunity to let her imagination run wild. I ALSO don't want people to think that we're those people who are crazy religious and can only think about JESUS! haha 

Just going to throw this out here, but I don't think it is too common to get Santa mixed up with Jesus/God.  At least, among my group of friends, we all believed in Santa when we were younger, but also believed in God and absolutely knew that the reason we celebrated Christmas was because of Jesus' birth.  Having fun with Santa and understanding the true meaning of Christmas are certainly not mutually exclusive--and I side eye anyone (not you Emma--but just people IRL) who say "my child isn't going to believe in Santa because WE are Christians."  That line of reasoning simply isn't logical.

 

haha I wasn't a Christian growing up, so that is probably why I prayed to Santa. But I was so caught up in Santa and presents that I never knew the meaning of Christmas until I was around 10. I remember telling my mom that I loved Santa because he got me everything I wanted. Looking back now, I wonder how that made my mom feel. She was going thru chemo at the time and money was super tight, but they still spent a boatload on gifts for my brother and I. I wish I would have known then that it was my parents sacrifice...and not Santa's elves. My mom passed away that following New Years Day. I think Santa just has a different feel to me than most people. It sounds silly, I know. I don't want to sound like one of "those people" who are crazy and think you're evil for doing the Santa thing and not 100% focusing on Jesus.  haha

ALane1128

Our main thing is, is that we want Jackson (and future LO's) to know the true meaning behind Christmas...Jesus' birth (Yes, we are Lutherans) If he believes in Santa, because he hears about it from his cousins or movies/shows or preschool so be it. But when he asks us at the age of 7 or 9 (or whatever the age be) if Santa is real or not, we aren't going to lie to him and say "Oh of course he is! Don't listen to the kids at school, Santa is of course real"...we will be honest. 

MeganSony

kristin172429:

Wait?  What is this about Santa??  That dude is totally real and he's awesome.  We will tell Ben all about him.  He can decide if he ever wants to stop believing...he'll just have to play along for his mommy!! 

 

This ... Plus I don't think I've ever really stopped believing. My parents never even told me he wasn't real. It was just an understanding at a certain age that I knew, but no one said it out loud.

Jen0204

I have zero issues with people who choose not to do Santa for religious reasons or really any reason other then "my child will be emotionally scarred when she finds out that I LIED to her!!!".  I just think that's a bunch of BS.  But I do want the girls to know the real meaning of Christmas from a religious standpoint, and I also want to use Christmas as a tool to teach them about the importance of giving to others.  When they're old enough I want us all to go and volunteer at Toys for Tots or a soup kitchen or something like that.  I don't want the holidays to be all about the materialistic side of things, but I think they can have their fun with Santa and balance it out with going to church and volunteering and things like that.

A sort of related story - we have some close friends who are Jewish.  The wife has always been Jewish, the husband converted when they got married.  Their children are being raised Jewish.  As such, they have told their oldest all along that Santa isn't real, but explained the story behind it and that she shouldn't tell her friends he's not real.  Well the husband's family FLIPPED when they found this out last year and his sister threatened to never see them again if they didn't tell her he's real.  They said no, so now his mom and one of his sisters hasn't seen their oldest daughter in over a year and has never met their twin daughters (6 weeks younger then mine).  All over Santa!

Jeanine88

I think Santa is a "to each their own" philosophy. We will raise our kids that there is a Santa and probably won't tell them until they figure it out, unless we have to, of course. My co-worker had to tell her 13 yr old son last year that there wasn't a Santa. I think that's cute.  I really love Christmas for all the traditions it brings to my family and hope to bring traditions to our family as well, which would include believing in Santa. 

Lena122

It really drives me nuts when parents use Santa as a bribe to get their children to behave. A friend of mine is always threatening her 6 year old with Santa. I'm afraid that if we do Santa I'll be tempted to do the same.

On top of that I really don't like the idea of fabricating Santa. I'm okay with him knowing ABOUT Santa but I don't want to get into all these fibs of putting out cookies and all that.

jju_stb_jju

We will tell ds he's real and I'm pretty sure he will get to an age where he realizes he isn't real. That's what ny parents did and no harm came from it!!

kayladay

kristin172429:

Wait?  What is this about Santa??  That dude is totally real and he's awesome.  We will tell Ben all about him.  He can decide if he ever wants to stop believing...he'll just have to play along for his mommy!! 

Yep, this is me.

Mistifier

EmmaBoBemma:

We will talki about Santa as a fairy tale person.  He won't be known as the one who gives presents. We're alllllll about fairy tales. (: 

This exactly  

ryry1977

I don't know what I will do. I guess only time will tell. My mom still says that Santa is real   And I love that!