What do you think about Santa?

This might've been covered already but...

When I was younger I remember being really disappointed when I found out my parents were lying about Santa being real... I decided that when I have kids I didn't want to tell them about Santa, or the tooth fairy... after all Christmas is more about the birth of Jesus, technically, right?

A lot of people think I'm nuts for thinking that and sometimes I wonder... anyone have any thoughts?

Hey, what do you mean? Santa is the guy who brings us our presents.. not our parents.. Who told you such a tale?

No, I am not sure.. never gave it much thought

As for the tooth fairy.. Now SHE is real.. and don't let anyone tell you any different

I was upset with my parents when my evil sister told me that Santa didn't exist. I never believed in the tooth fairy because she never left me any $$$.

I didnt believe in the toothfairy either but i did collect my teeth... they are in this little box.. I saw first hand when i was 3 that santa didnt exist anymore But as ive learned in psychology its apparently good for children to believe in something like santa when they are so young.

I had one of my students (he's 6 -- I'm a kindergarten teacher) come in this week and say "miss hurwitch someone told me on the bus that santa isn't real - he's just pretend" It broke my heart. I didn't want to mess up the magic for a 6 year old so I played along and told him that they were just silly and that I knew Santa was bringing ME presents on Christmas. He seemed fine with that answer. It can be such a hard thing for kids to deal with when they find out the truth.

Originally Posted by fwan

But as ive learned in psychology its apparently good for children to believe in something like santa when they are so young.

Click to expand...

What did you learn about this? I'm just curious?

Originally Posted by berylayn

It can be such a hard thing for kids to deal with when they find out the truth.

Click to expand...

That's exactly my concern... I remember I was real upset when I found out and I wouldn't want my kids to go through that. But then again, maybe they'd LIKE to believe in Santa while everyone else is...

yeah -- 3rd grade (the grade i student taught) when the kids are about 9 or 10 is really when the sh** hits the fan. I feel sorry for 3rd grade teachers because that's the year a lot of the magic dies and i wouldn't want to deal with that. I think its a parents job to break it to their child gently. I think its fun for the kids to believe in the magic for a little while and then when the time is right break it to them the right way.

The only thing I would worry about if you didn't tell your kids about Santa is that they will more than likely hear it from other children and come back and ask you who Santa is. Then you'll have the problem with A) Do you acknowledge Santa and have to explain why he didn't bring the kid any presents B) Tell the truth that there is no Santa and run the risk of him/her going back to the other kids and telling them....
I remember in kindergarden that some girl told everyone that there was no Santa and everyone didn't like her for that, someone else called her a liar and no one would talk to her or play with her for the rest of the year I still feel bad that we were so mean to her

I have always thought that it's just part of growing up when you find out that Santa, the tooth fairie, and the Easter Bunny are all made up. It sucks, but kids always find something new to amuse themselves with right away.

Originally Posted by ash_bct

The only thing I would worry about if you didn't tell your kids about Santa is that they will more than likely hear it from other children and come back and ask you who Santa is. Then you'll have the problem with A) Do you acknowledge Santa and have to explain why he didn't bring the kid any presents B) Tell the truth that there is no Santa and run the risk of him/her going back to the other kids and telling them....
I remember in kindergarden that some girl told everyone that there was no Santa and everyone didn't like her for that, someone else called her a liar and no one would talk to her or play with her for the rest of the year

I still feel bad that we were so mean to her

Click to expand...

Well, I'd already discussed this with my bf (who was dismayed to hear what I thought about it but now is okay with it)... I think that when my kid was old enough, I'd explain it gently and try to explain why other kids believe in Santa and why we don't... and how it's important not to ruin that for other kids.

But I still don't know... my boyfriend was so upset and even though he's gotten over it, I'm thinking maybe it is important for kids to hear about Santa... plus my friend said the bonus about having Santa is saying, "If you don't go to bed right now, Santa won't come!"

When my sisters, brother and I were growing up our parents wanted us to believe in Santa, and it was fun. Our dad always made waaaay too much noise putting presents under the tree, and us kids used to mention that we could hear Santa when he was in our house. Our parents always told us to never peek at Santa because then he would run away and we wouldn't get all our gifts. LOL!!!!!

Our parents also taught that Santa was just the fun part of Christmas, and that the real, and most important part of Christmas was the religious celebration of the birth of the Baby Jesus. And every single Christmas morning our family was in church.

I guess I had a totally different experience with Santa and figuring it out. I remember figuring out that my parents were Santa because the presents from Santa were in my mother's distinct handwriting. But we never even talked about it, and my sister didn't spoil it for me before I figured it out for myself. In fact, Santa still came to our house until I was about 26-27, until my sister's now hubby and his kids came to Christmas Eve, and Robby never did the Santa thing with his kids. At that point I was bringing presents from Santa as well as my mother, and when I gave Dad a prezzie from Santa the youngest (about 7-8 at the time) asked my Dad if he really believed in Santa. Dad's answer was classic, "As long as he brings me presents, I still believe!"

I do understand your reasoning for not wanting to tell your kids about Santa, but I still think Robby's reasoning was pretty lame. He wanted the kids to know that all the presents came from HIM and not some guy who brings presents to everyone. Just seemed kinda selfish of him as a parent, IMO.

I learnt this, this year...

It also depends on your child maturity level and they way they adapt and behave and so on.
Its in the behaviour section.
I think the best way is that daddy is santa! or mummy.
If my children were able to understand and be able to see it from another persons point of view "they dont know how to see from another persons point of view untill 7 - 9 yrs old" Then i would explain to them what it really is.
But then again WHen i have children i would make my husband or boyfriend dress up as santa for the night

You also have to realise that at that young age children arent able to understand so well on certain topics. This is why they Believe in fairy tales more than we do. Because they dont realise reality.
If i could type out the whole book!!

i have no idea if im making sense.
But i hope it helps in some way?

I think children should learn about good things whether real or imaginary and Santa is one of them. When I found out who the real Santa was (my father), I wasn't disappointed at all. My dad is a good and kind man, so I wasn't a bit surprised that he was "representing" Santa.

I think that maybe if the explanation is given before it's found out by some snitch at school (that daddy's representing Santa, for example), then maybe Santa could be a good thing.

Who knows, my mind is still unsure at this moment but I wouldn't want to deprive my kids of Santa, you know?

When I found out that Santa wasn't real I was about ten but I didn't tell Nana and so she still got me presents from Santa as well as her!

I wasn't angry or hurt when I found out that he wasn't real - I thought it was quite fun actually and plus I got alot more presents.

Although I don't plan on ever having children, if I did - it would depend if Santa was still in the in thing, if so then I would tell them about Santa.

Just my thoughts,

Sam.

i dont know about you guys.... but, i still think Santa is real!

actually i saw him, and the Mrs. today! At walmart, i was really excited.. and my mom was like "holy crap Summer, your 19 years old!"

i tried to get my 15 year old brother to go up in front of santa and yell like Buddy, on Elf... "SANTA!!!!" hehe.. we love that movie, and i think it would have been really cute for him to do that.. bcuz he's not a lil boy.. he's bigger than me..(not fat... muscle.. and taller)

I know that as a small child I believed in Santa, but for the life of me I cannot tell you when it was that I became aware that Santa was my parents. I do know that however that happened, it was not traumatic.

I also know that Santa was one side of Christmas, and Jesus was the other. Church, with Mum, was part of Christmas, just as it was of every Sunday, as far back as I can remember. Somehow Mum managed to balance the two in such a way that neither got overblown, and neither got overshadowed -- like so many things I see in my childhood, in retrospect -- understated, but never undervalued.

If I had had the privilege of bringing up kids, I would have tried for the same. Let the kids have the fairytale, fun side -- pretending is part of childhood; and learning what is fact and what is fantasy is part of growing up. The right approach to that revelation is what makes the difference between an easy adjustment and a traumatic experience. I suspect it's somewhat easier to break the news to a child if there are younger kids, and then it's possible to bring the older child into the conspiracy "You're old enough to know this, but don't spoil it for Johnny, OK? He'll grow up soon enough." Of course, one always has to be open to the possibility that playmates might spill the beans prematurely -- and be ready to come clean in a helpful way.

Santa still visits our house -- whether there are little people around or not

I'm with Sam on this. It didn't upset me when i found out there wasn't a santa, and thinking back to my childhood now i was so excited at the thought of him coming through the night to bring my presents, so as a child i had some really happy memories about it and i won't ever forget them.

Believe it or not, I believed in Santa until I was 12 and I was EXTREMELY upset when I found out he wasn't true. Now my parents used Santa as a way to keep us behaving and I think that's fine. If you learn that Santa only delivers to good girls and boys it's kind of like when you're first told that God only accepts good people to heaven. It's a reason to behave, so it's quite Christian in that respect. Tooth Fairy? I don't know about that one. Now my DH has a totally different attitude towards Santa, he hates the idea and I'm constantly fighting him on it. He says he doesn't want his kids thinking that some stranger is going to give them toys for doing nothing (that's why I stress the good kids side), but he also doesn't like Halloween for this same reason. He doesn't want his kids going to the neighbors and begging for food. Interesting way of seeing it. He grew up in a very poor area of Houston with high crime. So it's interesting to know he thinks that. He also has a point that usually the only time you see a black Santa (DH is black) is when it's a burglar. I've made it a point to tell my kids that you cannot see Santa because he moves so fast so if you see him at your house, call the police because it's a fake Santa. It works.

Oh, and Santa still visits me.