Believing In Santa

[MIKolbe]

[quote name='Deus_te_Amat' timestamp='1323055219' post='2344682']
What?! Santa's not real?!?!
[/quote]
no, but thanks for the cookies and milk.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='MIkolbe' timestamp='1323056515' post='2344702']
no, but thanks for the cookies and milk.
[/quote]


Most PMers have at some point been known to confuse Jason with Santa Claus. Some say it's the bushy white beard. Others say it's the rosy cheeks and wire frame glasses. As for me, I think it's that cute little red coat he tries to fit into every year. God bless him for trying.

[img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ysRg6gfNemY/SUjapuFwkGI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/C6m8DS-2fzc/s400/Morbidly+Obese+Santa.jpg[/img]

[Norseman82]

I guess it all depends on whether you are hiding Santa from the Nazis.....

[Totus Tuus]

I'm going to be crushed for my children's future if someone convinces me in this thread that telling my kids there's santa is wrong. So I'm going to stop reading it. Ignorance and is bliss!!

[GeorgiiMichael]

The myths of Santa, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, etc aren't lies, they are customs of childhood and age appropriate stories to help further the deeper truths of the times they represent (well, except for the tooth fairy, I think the tooth fairy is a bit silly, but whatever). These realities have taken a much more secular spin in recent decades, but they are still there, and they are good for children. The important thing to do is to be sure to tell the truth when your children ask flat out if they exist. To not do so would be to lie. But telling them about these things can help them to understand the Truth in terms they can understand.

Blind's story is the way to go, I think.

[Little Flower]

i dont think theres any sin. don't ask me why though. ill have to think about it

[Groo the Wanderer]

I AM Santa. I am also the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny.


Gotta have some roleplay in life, ya know? Besides, my kiddo figured out it was me by the time she was 7 anyway.

[Lil Red]

this is a hard one for me, because my husband was raised very differently than I was...and our belief systems are different as well. we tell our children that the reason Santa comes is because of Jesus' birth, that Santa is so happy about our Savior's birth, he brings presents for everyone.

it's not perfect, but, then again...fantasy when you're not a parent versus reality when you are a parent rarely is perfect.

[Oremoose]

why tell your kkids he is not real when you yourself thought he was. To tell them nothing and help them write thier list to the man is whatching the care free life of a child. Besides I've noticed kids over the years have "figured" it out earlier in life then before.

[Luigi]

I don't remember learning that Santa wasn't real, but I must've had such an awakening at one point. Being on the older end of the family, I perpetuated the lie to all/most of my younger siblings.

1. My baby-est sister learned from a brainy (but bratty) classmate that there was no Santa - she came home and asked Mom about it - Mom told her the truth, and the kiddo was okay with it. Until the next Christmas - she presented a Santa list to Mom, who was a little non-plussed - Mom said, "We talked about this last year, didn't we?" and the kiddo say, "Well, yeah, but if I don't turn in my list, how will you guys know what to get me?"

2. My cousin was born with the mind of an adult. From her earliest youth she [i]never[/i] believed in Santa. When they told her that story, she looked around at all the houses in the neighborhood and determined that no one person could deliver toys - in one night - to all the kids she knew. And she said so.

3. My former brother-in-law had a real phobia about his kids being snatched, so at their house the doors were [b][i]always locked[/i][/b] (even when the whole family was home together). When my sister told her daughter the story about Santa coming down the chimney, the kiddo pointed out that they had no chimney (we were raised in a house with a chimney, and my sister just re-told the story like she had heard it, not thinking to alter the details). So my sister, being very quick-witted, said, "Oh, for houses like ours, Santa has a pass key." The kiddo thought for a second, got a concerned look on her face and said, "Daddy's not gonna like Santa coming in the house when we're all asleep."

I have never understood parents' fascination with lying to children, especially when they train their children never to lie to them. Oh, that's [i]real[/i] good modeling, ain't it?

The only benefit I see to those kinds of stories - and I mean the ONLY benefit - is that it can teach children to keep a confidence. We do eventually have to learn that you can't say just everything to just everybody - we can't let the cat out of the bag about a surprise birthday party, or that your sister is engaged if she told you but hasn't said anything to the folks yet - that kind of thing.

If I've reckoned correctly, it might imply that priests - who keep the seal of confession - were probably the best Santa-liars in their youth. Learning that confidentiality lesson early in life serves them well?

[Nihil Obstat]

For myself, I can say with pretty high confidence that my quality of life would not have been any lower if I had never been told that Santa Claus was real. It brought nothing to Christmas for me that my parents wouldn't have brought if I'd known it was them.

[Basilisa Marie]

[quote name='GeorgiiMichael' timestamp='1323057879' post='2344723']
The myths of Santa, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, etc aren't lies, they are customs of childhood and age appropriate stories to help further the deeper truths of the times they represent (well, except for the tooth fairy, I think the tooth fairy is a bit silly, but whatever). These realities have taken a much more secular spin in recent decades, but they are still there, and they are good for children. The important thing to do is to be sure to tell the truth when your children ask flat out if they exist. To not do so would be to lie. But telling them about these things can help them to understand the Truth in terms they can understand.

Blind's story is the way to go, I think.
[/quote]

The only way to explain the tooth fairy that I can think of was to get children to stop freaking out over losing a tooth. It can be rather scary sometimes. Kids these days get so much money for their teeth, though. A nice, shiny quarter would make me super happy.

[quote]The only benefit I see to those kinds of stories - and I mean the ONLY benefit - is that it can teach children to keep a confidence. We do eventually have to learn that you can't say just everything to just everybody - we can't let the cat out of the bag about a surprise birthday party, or that your sister is engaged if she told you but hasn't said anything to the folks yet - that kind of thing. [/quote]

I think that's a good point, too, especially in families with lots of kids. You could even say it helps children know that they can keep a confidence with their parents, so they can tell them something they wouldn't tell anyone else.

[ardillacid]

[quote name='Totus Tuus' timestamp='1323057312' post='2344720']I'm going to be crushed for my children's future if someone convinces me in this thread that telling my kids there's santa is wrong. So I'm going to stop reading it. Ignorance and is bliss!![/quote]agreed. Santa might not be real but apparently the grinch is

[Aloysius]

I like the story of santa and would definitely use it in some form, most likely the common form but with a touch of all this St. Nicholas and child Jesus stuff... but what I really think is problematic is just how much all the movies and lore around our culture has focused on believing in him... there's always the kid in the Christmas movie that doesn't believe and is proven wrong, and explanations are flung all over the place to convince kids that he really is real.

it's not so much a lie to tell kids that there is a Santa, cause it's just a story and in some way, especially if you pray to St. Nicholas to grant graces and joy through the gifts you're giving, it really is something coming from Santa... but to struggle to keep the story straight and trick them anytime they suspect starts to get a little problematic IMO. too much Santa apologetics may be a wee bit dangerous.

now that doesn't mean I wouldn't watch all those movies with future children and such, but I get more squishy about it when it comes to all this use of terms like "believe" and bending over backwards to prove it even when kids start to suspect. I think generally when kids start to suspect, it may be time to start at least watering down the story rather than digging your heels in on the matter.

[AccountDeleted]

Having been an abused child before I adopted her at age seven, my daughter was pretty cynical about most things. We did do a version of Santa, but more as a traditional and ritualistic expression of the 'spirit of Christmas' rather than trying to pretend he was a real person who flies around the world on Christmas Eve (it would have been hard to explain why he ignored her until she came to live with me!). When she was eight, she decided to become a Catholic (without my prompting) so the reality of Christmas changed focus and we discussed the St Nicholas story as well as the Nativity story. Things like the children's Mass and Midnight Mass had enough beauty and tradition to start replacing the whole Santa schtick but we did keep certain little fun things like laying out the Santa sack (Australian custom) and hanging the stockings. She knew that it was me who filled them, but I think she appreciated that I gave the credit to the 'spirit of Christmas'. She played the Santa game until it no longer served her needs (when she wanted to choose her own gifts) and then we let him fade quietly away. We continued to put up stockings but we filled them for each other then.

I love both the Santa traditions (being raised in a secular house, they are part of my childhood memories) and the Christian ones, especially bringing the baby Jesus to the crib at Midnight Mass. And since I was baptised into the faith at a Christmas Midnight Mass, it has a special significance for me as well. I just love Christmas all around!!

Children need to be met where their needs are. My daughter needed honesty but also a little fantasy as well because reality had been so harsh to her for the first seven years of her life. They are all individuals after all, and what we tell them might need to be adapted to suit each one. Strip them of everything that is childlike and as adults they might find it hard to believe in a truly amazing story, one that is sometimes even harder to believe than Santa --- the story of the Incarnation.