Kid "told"

[purehuman]

Originally Posted by HighFlyingBird

I was having a social media conversation with friends from back home tonight and one brought up a problem.

Her daughter is 10 but often hangs out with her 6/7 year old siblings at times. the 10 year old has been coached not to disclose the truth about santa, etc to friends (her sibling knows already). It was only a few months ago the 10 year old really asked for the truth about those, so her mom told her. Coached her not to tell other kids. All seemed fine.

A neighborhood mom (of a 6 y/o) came to the mom's door and was angry that her daughter told their daughter that santa and bunny were lies.

The mom wonders if she should punish the kid for telling. Kids talk. 6 isn't that old to hear the truth. The mom told me her daughter was in kinder when she first heard (cause kids talk) but didn't believe they were fake until recently.

The mom also wonders when it happened, because she never sees the kids interacting at all. So maybe it was another kid but the girl named her kid (easy target).

Thoughts?

Do you punish a kid for spilling the beans on mythical creatures?

The consensus in the group was no way, don't punish or even care. But I wonder what people think here.

The mom is also kind of mad that she is expected to police the kids chatting and is thinking about not allowing the other kid at her house/property. But i think that is overboard.

I havnet really faced this, so I didn't know what to say

Absolutely not....NEVER...the child has a right to speak what she feels is truth. If you want her to remain ignorant, don't tell her...
I believe in the old adage "oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive".

I've always wondered what parents tell their kid when there's a different "Santa" in every store.
And do you really want your youngsters believing that a bunny leaves eggs for them?
Do you really want your children going through the pressure of hoping that they've been good enough for Santa to bring them something?

[tassity22]

The only way to keep kids from finding out there is no Santa Claus, is to keep them away from everyone else. Which is not realistic.


I see no point in punishing an older child for speaking up about the fact that there is no such thing as Santa Claus.


I don't understand why it's so important for parents for their children to keep believing in this myth. They are going to find out some day, eventually.