Believing In Santa

[missionseeker]

[quote name='IcePrincessKRS' timestamp='1323187376' post='2345530']
I guess wish lists is just a foreign concept to me because we never made them. My mom has said a few times that she was only asked for a specific gift once (my brother wanted a Furby). Well, I know that's not true because when I was 6 I asked for a Chia Pet and didn't get it, and my other sister asked for a Craftmatic Adjustable Bed (gotta love the power of infomercials!) the same year.
[/quote]



One year my sister asked for a furbie, she got it, but everytime my brother Daniel was near it, it would go "Ah! a monster!" EVERY. TIME.

[dominicansoul]

my family doesn't exchange names or make lists of what they need/want...

I wind up giving them things I think they would like, or I myself would like receiving... it can be danged expensive, since my family is more numerous than the stars in teh sky...

I love how we've gone from talking to telling kids santa claus is real = or =\= lies to talking about asking Jesus for gifts, to talking about our own Christmas experience... hahahha

I love phatmass....

[Slappo]

I think Im going to talk to my wife about setting some sort of *toy* limit to Christmas. I have no problem with practical presents, clothes, a nice jacket, snow shoes, food, etc - my kids can get as much of that as their grand parents can throw at them as it cuts down on mommy and daddys costs of new clothes, shoes, and sporting equipment LOL!

For actual toys - video games, ipods, playstations, lego sets, board games, etc. I think I want to put some sort of limit as to what the grand parents can get the kids, and what my wife and I will get the kids.

Anyways... back to main topic - we decided we're not going to teach that santa is true, but we'll let them learn about the myth of santa claus knowing that it is just a fantasy. We'll teach them about where Santa Claus came from, and celebrate the feast of St. Nikolaos. As for why we get presents on Christmas - because it is such huge birthday party (second highest solemnity in the Church) that everyone gets presents at it .

[fides' Jack]

I plan on making my kids believe in the Coca-Cola version of Santa. He's up at the North Pole drinking coke with all the polar bears. If they want to believe that polar bears pull his sleigh, then so be it. As long as they have coke for the journey, all is fine.

Seriously, though, I think [i]letting[/i] your kids believe in Santa is okay, but not telling them that Santa is real (which is definitely a lie). We don't plan on doing either. We'll celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas, so they know (partly) where the idea of Santa came from, and because it's such a big Church feast (especially in the East). Christmas day will be about celebrating the birth of Christ. Lists can be made out to the parents, who get the kids gifts to further celebrate that day. If they want to make a wish list to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, they can, but they are only allowed to ask for spiritual blessings and graces.

[Totus Tuus]

[quote name='GeorgiiMichael' timestamp='1323110788' post='2344995']
I think the problem with this thread, and despite a lack of any real hostility, I still think it's a problem, is that we are calling the Santa myth a lie, instead of...well... a myth. Myths don't need to be true to spread the Truth. And for children, a Santa figure is a great way to tell the Truth of the season of Christmas. It's not a lie, lying is everywhere and always wrong, it's an age appropriate myth used for the spreading of the Truth of the season.

I don't think it's a problem one way or the other. If some of you don't tell your kids about Santa, that's your prerogative, same with those who do tell your kids about Santa.

But please, let's avoid the use of the word "lie" because it isn't a lie.

And I hate to name drop (or position drop in this case) but this position is one that was distinguished for me by my professor of Moral Philosophy, who also happens to be one of the smartest priests I've ever met (Naval Academy, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford, etc). I say this not to tell you that you need to tell your kids about Santa, only to say that Santa isn't a lie, as this thread keeps saying.
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I think that's a good distinction. I think we tell our kids about Santa in the same spirit that we read them Mother Goose stories. I know both were a huge part of my childhood, and I knew they weren't real by the age of seven.

[InPersonaChriste]

I believed in Santa Claus for many many years! And I appreciate the wonderful way my parents let me believe in something like him. It actually made me want to learn about why we celebrate Christmas, granted for the first few year I did only care about eating turkey dinner.

Maybe me being intruiged to learn about why we celebrate Christmas makes me one of the "special" children....

I know so many kids who only celebrate Saint Nicholas, and I am fine with both. I do not think it is a dangerous influence, my parents always tried to make sure I knew the real meaning of Christmas!

[homeschoolmom]

The thing is, as a parent, you don't always know how kids are going to react to your decision. Will they resent you for not allowing any sort of magicalness in their Christmas? Will they distrust you because you lied about Santa (are you lying about Jesus?)? Unfortunately, we cannot know their reaction until it's too late to make a different choice. There are no do-overs. And not all children react the same way. Developing a middle ground is sometimes difficult, but seems like the best solution, imho. Parenting is one of those difficult tasks that require you to make decisions all the time, and half the time you don't know if it was the right one until some time later. It's very tiring.

[Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam]

I do think it is a sin to lie to children. If a child asks me if Santa is real I will reply "Yes." If they ask me where he is I will reply "I heard he was spending some time in Italy right now." All of these are true. Saint Nicholas is real. The good bishop's body was moved from now turkey and currently resides in Italy.

I think it would be a tragedy to lose the ideal of Saint Nicholas and squash it out of an overzealous effort to oppose secularism. We should promote what Saint Nicholas actually stood for Charity, Justice, and Truth. Saint Nicholas was described by those of his time as "leading a most philosophic life." By this they meant that he was a great souled individual who often looked after the small (poor, orphaned, widowed) of society. He was known for his generosity (which we all know the stories of--from leaving gold in the shoes of the poor to dropping sacks of gold into a house so that women in his diocese could be married) and was a model of Charity. He was also a model bishop who boldly proclaimed the truth and loved Christ. At the Council of Nicea--when Arius was arguing his sub-ordinationst and Arian heretical views that the Son was not co-equal with, was not one with, and was subordinate to the Father in the Son's very essence since the Divine Logos was a creature (an argument which was offensive to St. Nicholas for both the understanding of Christ and Mary)--the good Saint struck Arius across the face for such slander. Yes, Santa has been putting the smackdown on Heresy since 325 and Arius was the original name on the Naughty List.

It seems to me that the original intention of celebrating St. Nicholas's life (other than trying to get your children to behave) was to teach them (and ourselves) virtue as exemplified by a man who truly loved and followed Christ. To teach them to balance the infinite virtues of Mercy and Charity with the infinite virtue of Justice and Truth. Our society could stand to learn how these virtues compliment and do not limit one another. God willing, if I ever have children, I intend to teach them about Santa/Saint Nicholas/Papa Noel and to tell them stories about his life and how he intercedes for us today. The gifts they receive will be from him, through his teaching of virtue and through his intercession, because he wants my whole family to follow Christ as he did and there is no better time to practice that than Christmas.