September 2018 Moms
stothi
member
The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and The Tooth Fairy walk into a bar...
stothi
member
But seriously, all joking aside, how do you all plan to deal with fun magical awesome but ultimately made up people and creatures like the Easter Bunny, Santa, Tooth Fairy, ect?
I want my children to have happy childhoods where holidays are magical and exciting and all that, but I don't want to lie. What do you do, plan to do, or have seen others do, to walk the line to let the kids be kids but not betray their trust?
I want my children to have happy childhoods where holidays are magical and exciting and all that, but I don't want to lie. What do you do, plan to do, or have seen others do, to walk the line to let the kids be kids but not betray their trust?
Re: The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and The Tooth Fairy walk into a bar...
We lay somewhere in between. Our kids will learn that Santa and the Easter Bunny are pretend characters that are part of the season and represent fun and the spirit of giving. DS had pictures with Santa done last Christmas and we certainly won’t restrict the kids from participating in the fun, but they will know the truth from the beginning. Furthermore, we will teach them that some other kids will believe these things are real, and that they aren’t to spoil their fun, that everyone has different beliefs. As for the tooth fairy, I think that’s plain dumb, IMO. Maybe we will do something special for losing a first tooth, but my kids aren’t making bank for something that happens to everyone over and over again.
Luckily my IL’s have toned down the crazy so they are on board with this.
Santa is a tough one. I love the magic of Christmas and the giving spirit so many people get into. I’ve started talking about Santa as a communal gift giving entity: we can get gifts for other people and be Santa for them, just like some people get gifts so they can be Santa for you. I’m hoping this kind of approach will reinforce the giving aspect of the holiday for our kids and we plan to have them choose toys to donate to others so they understand what ‘being Santa for another person’ means.
We are big Christmas people with Santa pictures and presents, but also balancing that with giving and religion. Same with Easter, Easter hunts and Easter bunny are all good and as our kids grow we will add in participation in service days at our church.
I agree with what was said that I felt no betrayal at realizing the truth about Santa, more excitement that I was in on the secret. I was grown up (all of 7 I think) and now expected to keep the magic going for younger siblings.
However, I will not be buying into doing the Lucky leprechaun (and using green dye to make it look like he peed in the toilet) or any of the other bogus bs that one of my husband’s coworker’s wife and her group of moms do. That is too far and too much work.
DH’s family’s only tradition was to have no traditions, so there was nothing consistent amd they were super reality-none fantast based. Like grew up watching John Wayne and not Disney, because cowboys and indians were real and talking animals/magc were not. (I think this was the logic anyways...I’m still figuring it out 8yrs later).
Melding into our own groove w Dd has been interesting(challenging). Mostly I go overboars and get super crearive using “normal” traditions and tying them strongly to our faith. It’s extra hard because the major holidays we don’t attend church since the crowds could mean exposing dd to sicknesses.
Easter, we hide eggs, some have candy/prizes(puzzle pieces this year), some have symbols of the resurrection story. The hint always ends at the empty tomb(we made a tipped over pot into one in a discreet part of our flower gardens) where she finds a gift as a reminder of God’s greatest gift. We stll read the books we’re given about the Easter bunny, and she hasn’t seemed to care that he doesn’t come to our house, she loves what we do.
Christmas, my family was the extreme anti-santa clan. Not until I was older though, my mom is still offended by his existence so I make sure to buy wrapping paper w no santa designs just for her. For DD she knows about him, but thinks of him as pretend and a part of the symbols of giving that go with God giving his son. So far it’s working. Christmas Eve wo go outside after dark to look at the stars, we’re lucky and our neighbor puts a big light up star on his roof, so we talk about the star that came for Jesus. It’s all little stuff that adds up, and then she talks about it more the rest of the year.
Tooth fairy, well that has no religious affiliation, bt DD has seen so many shows and episodes involvng it... she talks fully expecting something special for losing a tooth. DH loves spoiling her, so we’ll prolly do the hide it under your pillow and swap it for something... maybe a 50 cent piece so it’s cheap but special? I dunno. She’ll know it was us though. I’m leaving the rest up to dh, in theory, as long as he doesn’t drop the ball.
bfp#1-10/29/12,EDD: 7/3/13. nothing found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 12/10/12. "Bean"
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bfp#3- 9/26/14. EDD: 5/7/15. no heartbeat found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 10/23/14. "Little Bug"
**Psalm 139:16**
Kids are so little for such a short time. Bring on the magic and innocence of childhood.
Our son does goto a catholic school and is learning the religious meaning behind the holidays and he can decide when he is older if he would like to continue with religion. My husband and I aren’t practising.
Santa does stocking at our house. They small toy, candy, and a book.
The Easter bunny hides eggs and brings a small amount of candy. We don't do Easter baskets.
As for the tooth fairy, she brings like...a dollar.
I won't do Elf on the Shelf either. He's basically just a snitch right?
Same for easter bunny, we will probably hide eggs but not some fancy easter basket full of junk.
I have not even thought about the tooth fairy. I guess DH and I will have to talk through that one.
I loved the tooth fairy growing up so I will likely do that. We were gifted an elf on the shelf. I set her out last Christmas and DD and I read the book but that was about it I might move it around now next year but the whole spy for Santa thing is dumb. I hate people telling kids they have to be good because Santa is watching... They should be good because that's how people should behave
We've put the idea in her head that one night this week Tinkerbell is going to come take her pacifiers and leave her a gift. We shall see how that goes. I'm debating leaving a little pile of glitter or it might be another Santa footprint fiasco.
I may change the messaging around Santa a bit with my kids. For example, I will try to tone down the message of Santa can bring you anything you want. I may instead say Santa will bring you some gifts and family will give you some gifts but remember he has to give gifts to every child in the world.
My family and MH family both participated in community service activities during the holidays when we were growing up. Helping to serve a meal, providing presents to a family, volunteering etc... I'd really like to continue that with my kids. I think this will help them understand the world and how important it is to think of/help others.
When the kids are older we'll teach them about religious holidays of all faiths, and what all kinds of people believe.
No way we're doing Elf on a Shelf--it basically represents everything I'm against, especially as an atheist. In our family, we believe in doing good for the sake of good--because it's the right thing to do--not because someone is watching or because you're going to get rewarded in the end (tell me what else that sounds like, haha).
Maybe I am delusional but even as an adult I still feel the magic at holidays and i compare it to waking up at Disney world. It's so happy and magical and special there for me even though I know the characters aren't real it doesn't lessen the memories I make or the happiness I feel - I will do the same for holidays once my kids know that Santa and E.B. aren't real