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My antique ornament Santa does not bear that much resemblance to the Coca-Cola Santa, but more closely resembles the Nast Santa. I probably need to look up when European blown in a mold glass ornaments were first available (at Woolworth's if memory serves me correctly) in the United States. They were an instant huge hit. The Golden Glow of Christmas Past is a collectors' group which likely can provide that info quickly.
My antique ornament Santa does not bear that much resemblance to the Coca-Cola Santa, but more closely resembles the Nast Santa. I probably need to look up when European blown in a mold glass ornaments were first available (at Woolworth's if memory serves me correctly) in the United States. They were an instant huge hit. The Golden Glow of Christmas Past is a collectors' group which likely can provide that info quickly.
I have a Santa in a blue robe ornament that my great-great grandmother brought over from Germany.
Well, as an adult I really do not need gifts. But the year that my daughter was in the Peace Corps in Africa, and my husband had dementia and a traumatic brain injury (and obviously couldn't shop for a gift for me) and my son & DIL were trying to finish up work commitments before having their second child and seemingly forgot Christmas it was pretty depressing to have zero gifts for me under the tree.
Luckily, several on-line friends saved the day and sent some nice surprises. And my daughter called on Christmas Day and the day after Christmas I received a photo calendar from my son & DIL.
I may only receive two gifts for Christmas this year (hopefully, one from each child), but that is OK. It was just that first year (that looked like zero gifts) that was very, very hard. Keep that in mind if you know any full time caregivers or widow/widowers who may have zero surprises for Christmas this year.
I can certainly see why that scenario would be depressing, how awful!
I also enjoy receiving gifts as an adult, just not gifts that are bought out of obligation. When someone gives me something meaningful (not necessarily expensive) and it shows that they really know me it can be touching. Besides my children, there are certain people I would never want to skip buying a gift for. My dad would be one of them. He's incredibly supportive and has always been there for my family and my siblings. I of course want to show him love and gratitude by giving him something nice on Christmas. I'm in my mid 30's and I'm lucky enough to still have 3 of my grandparents around. As long as they are here I will give them gifts for the same reasons.
When it goes beyond that I get a little annoyed. I buy a gift for an aunt I see once a year and rarely speak more than three words to. I have nothing against here, I'm just not close to her at all. There is an expectation in my family that we will exchange gifts anyway.
OK had to update what I said "worked" for my kids when I was raising them, because speaking of epiphanies, I just had one.
My oldest son is 33 years old. As I said before, I never raised them to believe in Santa, but I did tell them the stories of Santa (as stories, not reality). I always had them pick out gifts from catalogs and then I would buy them and wrap them and put them under the tree BEFORE Christmas so they knew that Santa wasn't bringing gifts and didn't really exist.
Or so I thought. JUST LAST NIGHT my oldest son was yearning for Christmas and talking about Christmas traditions he remembered as a child, and he said, "OK Mom, so I was talking with my little brother" (who is 31) "and he and I both remembered something from our childhood and listen...I don't want you to lie to me, just go ahead and tell me the truth...when we were kids, on Christmas Eve, after we'd gone to bed, we'd hear something on the roof and we'd hear bells in the front yard. Was that you?"
I busted out laughing. I said "OF COURSE THAT WAS ME!" He said, "FOR REAL? Well, you better call my brother and tell him that because till you told me this tonight, he and I both thought it was Santa Claus!"
I said, "But I never told you Santa was real! Who do you think was eating the cookies and drinking the milk and writing a thank you note?" And he said, "Oh we knew you did that. And you're right - you always told us Santa was just a story. But then we'd hear all that on the roof and we'd hear those bells..." I said, "But why would Santa come to our house? I had already bought the gifts - and you knew that - and they were already under the tree!"
And this 33 year old man said "Because that's just what Santa does."
I also enjoy receiving gifts as an adult, just not gifts that are bought out of obligation. When someone gives me something meaningful (not necessarily expensive) and it shows that they really know me it can be touching. ...
When it goes beyond that I get a little annoyed. I buy a gift for an aunt I see once a year and rarely speak more than three words to. I have nothing against here, I'm just not close to her at all. There is an expectation in my family that we will exchange gifts anyway.
I know exactly what you mean, and agree. My ex-inlaws were the same way: You got the impression that you'd be hung, drawn and quartered if you didn't give a gift to every family member, even if you only saw or heard from them that one time a year.
The funniest thing was that my MIL made a big show of giving the exact same gift to both of her two sons (i.e., the same sweater but in a different color, for example) but also to both DIL's as well! One year I got pierced earrings even though I don't have pierced ears; but my SIL did, which is why I got them ... and yes, MIL knew that my ears aren't pierced; she told me I could "go to a kiosk in the mall and have it done!" (I didn't.) That's the level of thought and effort that she would put into gift giving. Meanwhile, if then husband and I didn't "top" the previous year's gift to her with each succeeding year, she'd sulk. And heaven forbid that we didn't spend more on her and FIL than we did on their other family members! There was definitely a hierarchy that we were expected to follow in gift giving.
I brought this topic up over lunch with my colleagues yesterday. One guy mentioned that they had to tell their kids the truth when they entered middle school. Another guy said that his daughter is in 7th grade and still believes
They all thought it was wrong that I was hoping my 6 year old would start questioning things. This thread has helped me to realize that no, I shouldn't spoil it for him at this point. I guarantee though, that if my children approach puberty as Santa believers I will pull the rug out from under them.
I believe in this thread that someone mentioned income could also play a role. Most of my coworkers are what most people would consider upper middle class and live in affluent neighborhoods. I think they also go out of their way to make the Santa experience more believable. I grew up in a solidly working class home, but my family is definitely more comfortable money-wise than may parents were. As I mentioned before, we don't do anything extraordinary to make Santa seem real, so I hope that our children figure it out at an appropriate age. I definitely don't want to need to explain that Santa isn't real and have the sex talk with my kids in the same year like it sounds like my coworker may need to do.
This is something I think a lot about every year. My wife and I have two children, ages 6 and 3 (close to 4).
To give a bit of background information in case it is useful, my wife and I are atheists. Despite that, we are very into celebrating many of the secular aspects of Christmas, because we love the family gatherings, decorations, traditions, music, etc. This is partially because I have a very close family and enjoy in sharing in these celebrations with them.
When our oldest child was born my wife and I debated on whether or not to perpetuate the Santa myth with him. At that time we decided to go with it because we thought it was fun, relatively harmless, and because his cousins, who he would be seeing often, have Santa in their household. Now that he is older, I regret that decision.
Our son absolutely loves Santa, and he is mesmerized by him. He gets incredibly excited to see him in the store, talk to him, and has a twinkle in his eye when he goes to sleep on Christmas Eve. Part of me finds this endearing, but another part of me feels incredibly guilty about it.
I have a few main concerns, some short term, and some long term. In the short term I am afraid that when my son realizes that Santa isn't real he will be crushed. What I find more concerning are my longer term worries. I'm afraid that perpetuating this myth will erode his trust in the people he should be able to trust most. I am also concerned that we may be damaging his critical thinking skills. It is our goal to raise children who are skeptical and rely on logic and reason to come to conclusions. I keep hoping to see our son debunk Santa by using those skills, but it hasn't happened yet!
My wife and I do not go out of our way to make Santa seem real. We don't do Elf on the Shelf, don't send letters from Santa, and we do not leave any tangible evidence that he visited other than gifts under the tree. When my son asks how Santa does this or that, we turn the question back on him and try to have him think through it. We never give a concrete answer. I was hoping this would be the year where he might come to the conclusion that Santa isn't real, but it doesn't appear to be the case. I very clearly remember coming to the realization on my own at his age, but I guess he isn't 100% his father's son.
I'm really hoping that by next year he is over it. I feel like if he is not by then, we may have to be proactive and figure out a way to let him down gently while still preserving trust. I didn't write much about his younger sister. She isn't nearly as enamored with Santa as he was at her age, right now I'm hoping she never is! I really wish we had told our children Santa was pretend from the beginning.
I'm sure others out there have faced a similar dilemma.
When I found out, I was the opposite of crushed. I couldn't believe my parents did all that for me! Maybe not right away, cuz I was still little … but when you think about it, it really gives you a new sense of appreciation for your folks. I am sure my parents spent like thousands on my sister and I to give us everything we wanted. The santa bit was fun and all, but I am in awe of everything my parents did each year to make Christmas so special.
Some kids will stop "believing" when they are good and ready. I always avoided spying on Christmas Eve because I sort of suspected that it was my parents anyway. I wasn't ready to know the truth. But I would always play along with my peers. Honestly I don't know how many years I did that, sort of half believing. Weird to think about it now.
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Meanwhile, if then husband and I didn't "top" the previous year's gift to her with each succeeding year, she'd sulk. And heaven forbid that we didn't spend more on her and FIL than we did on their other family members! There was definitely a hierarchy that we were expected to follow in gift giving.
