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No, you did not say about grave harm. I simply responded based on a perception I got out of your message.
I am not confusing lying with imagination. Have you ever lied? Without knowing your answer I will say that you have lied in your life for some reason whether they are good or not.
Taking a kid to go and see Santa or what Santa brought them for Christmas is lying. I am not denying that. What is the intent of the lie? To hurt him? People do decide how to raise their kids and often do make decisions that may not be the best ones and often result in no harm to the children. Example: Some kids do hurt in school if they do not see Santa in their lives when they see other kids sharing their letters to Santa. They are happy and love that fantasy experience. Is there harm to that? Not that I have seen so why make such fuss about it.
Sure, I lie. I didn't say lying was wrong either. I said it wasn't make-believe.
You do realize this is a forum, right? And that this particular post in this particular forum is about Santa? I'm responding to the topic- I don't walk around my whole life brimming over with angst because some parents opt to lie to their kids during the holidays. You want to do Santa, do Santa- I don't think your kids will be horribly damaged by it. But I'm not 'fussing' about it by responding here anymore than you are by defending the practice.
Sure, I lie. I didn't say lying was wrong either. I said it wasn't make-believe.
You do realize this is a forum, right? And that this particular post in this particular forum is about Santa? I'm responding to the topic- I don't walk around my whole life brimming over with angst because some parents opt to lie to their kids during the holidays. You want to do Santa, do Santa- I don't think your kids will be horribly damaged by it. But I'm not 'fussing' about it by responding here anymore than you are by defending the practice.
Just don't call it make believe.
Well, it is make believe. Does it make the kids believe in their early life? Sure it does. So it is make believe. Take care.
Finding out that Santa isn't real happens around the same time that they are old enough to truly understand (and appreciate) that Christmas isn't just about getting presents... there is a deeper meaning.
Finding out that Santa isn't real happens around the same time that they are old enough to truly understand (and appreciate) that Christmas isn't just about getting presents... there is a deeper meaning.
Great observation! However, many people do fall into what I call the "parallysis of the analysis" and go on and on about lying, science, etc. Take care.
DD just turned 7. I was worried that this would be our first "non-santa" Christmas. Then the other day she said something about Santa and the tooth fairy (she just lost a tooth) and had that amazing sparkle in her eye and I knew she still believed completely. Then she reminded me about the mean boy who told her last year that Santa wasn't real. She is still mad at him for that. lol. I love the fact that she still enjoys these little things.
I still wrap Santa gifts in special paper. Santa usually drops off a scrap of it early so that we can get a sneak peek of what paper he will be using that year. He also leaves a couple of presents unwrapped (bike, strangely shaped items).
We do stockings twice. We have Christmas Eve at my parents house, and after dinner my dad takes all of the kids out to look at Christmas lights while the rest of us stay back and stuff stockings and put presents under the tree. All of the adults get stockings too. My dad's stocking is the same one he has used since he was 3 days old. It makes it a bit harder to shop for stocking stuffers for 30 people, but worth it for everyone to get a visit from Santa.
After we open gifts, we check the Norad Santa tracker to see how close he is to coming to our house. Then we all head home for Santa to come again in the middle of the night.
I see nothing wrong with kids believing in Santa. I actually can't remember when I found out he wasn't real, so it couldn't have been too traumatic.
When DD starts asking, I will ask her questions and take her lead on whether she is ready or not.
A friend of mine has 3 kids in college who still "believe" because she told them that once they stop believing, Santa stops coming.
re stockings: This is one that I thought might give it away. When we go back home for Christmas, we do Christmas Eve with my in-laws. MIL always has a stocking for everyone jam-packed with stuff. The kids never asked how they got filled on Christmas Eve before bed time.
My good friend told me her kids, who are now teenagers, walked up to her together when they were 5 & 7 demanding to know the truth and saying they knew she brought the toys. She said she looked them in the eye and told them point blank "Anyone in this house who wants presents better love them some Santa. Mommy loves Christmas and y'all better fake it". LMAO. She wwas dead serious too. The kids thought it was funny and played along from that point on. They still talk about Santa even now.
My oldest is 8 and started asking questions in kindergarden. I would always just ask her what she thought and let her answer herself. The hubby told her Santa only comes if she believes so now she said she's decided he is real. I don't think she'll make it another year. In fact I'm sure she knows and is just playing along. My son is 5 and he stressed out last year over the being a good boy thing. It was the first time I felt bad about the whole Santa myth. This year he claimed down somewhat until last night when he had a whole meltdown about Santa not knowing that he was a good boy because he fights with his sister sometimes. I told him Santa knows his heart and knows he loves his family and tries hard. I told him no one is perfect and Santa does not expect him to be. That kid sincerely believes in Santa so hard, I don't even know how to tell him the truth. He'd be crushed. I'm going to let him get there on his own, but I suspect it won't be pretty when it does finally figure it out.
We were just talking about this the other night with our 16 and 19 year olds. We have one younger nephew and hubby was asking if he still believed in Santa. My 16 year old said--"he better or Santa won't bring him presents" . I've done a good job brainwashing our kids . They still get Santa presents.
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. They still get Santa presents.
