As a child, I remember being scared of Santa. We didn’t have a fireplace, so when I asked how he came in, my parents said he had keys to the front door. I was always scared he was going to loose the keys and someone could come in!!!!

I think children who are “devastated” to learn that Santa isn’t real are told too early. If your kids start believeing, let them believe, they will grow out of it and won’t be devastated. Once, I just asked my mum “are you the tooth fairy?” and she just said “yeah”, I was disappointed but it was good to have fun and believing!

Kat, kids can believe in Santa and not expect him to buy them every expensive thing they ask for. My parents always told me that Santa had lots of work and that he would pick only a few gifts and sometimes think of some of them himself. It kept the surprise instead of knowing everything I’d get =)

hi yes i have a 5 year old little boy called George he believes in santa i think its important for children to use their imagination and this time of year helps children use that imagination and believe in the magic that is christmas
xx

I don’t think it’s right to tell children about Santa, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny. Now, when I was little my parents told me about Santa and all that, but when I grew old enough to recognize my moms handwriting, I knew the gifts weren’t from Santa, I was 6. Easter was ruined for me when I caught my dad hiding the eggs the same year. I knew the Tooth Fairy was bogus when I lost a tooth I never told my parents about when I was 7. I wanted to know if they were behind that too, or if the Tooth Fairy would come anyway, cause she would know, even if I never said anything to mom and dad. Of course, no money under the pillow.

I will say that I didn’t feel emotionally scarred for life, or anything like that, but I didn’t like being lied to. For a while, I did wonder what else they lied to me about, and I was a bit non trusting, but I got over that. It was still fun for me to pretend to believe for my younger brothers. However, I don’t plan on telling my children those fictional characters exist, but mostly, I don’t like all the consumerism that goes along with the holidays.

Every year millions of people get stressed out, try to do too much, go into debt and spend more and more on gifts for their kids, who I have watched become more and more greedy and less thankful for what they have. There is nothing wrong with children having a healthy understanding of the Santa myth, and celebrating the birth of our Savior, but I believe children should also realize that the gifts they get are from their parents who work very hard all year. Young children don’t have a concept of money, but as a child gets older, financial limits should be put on their expectations of gifts. Have them make a list, sure, but they should make a notation of a few of the things they really really want. (like 3-5 things, within the budget) Make sure to get those, and your golden. Everything else is a bonus. Christmas morning should be about more than just the gifts. By placing the focus of the day on non gift traditions, more memories are created that last a lifetime. Who remembers every toy they got from “Santa” every year anyway? They will remember singing carols, drinking cocoa by a fire, watching the Christmas movies on Hallmark, doing a toy or food drive, making cookies to give to the Sr. Center, or hundreds of other things you could do, instead of trying to find a way to make lying to your kids fit into the budget.

I mean seriously, by lying to your kids about what toys Santa will bring them and having them make a list, does not teach them a darn thing, except that Santa can bring them whatever they want, no matter how much it costs. Parents kill themselves and destroy their budget to get the kids every darn thing on the list and if the kids don’t get it, the parents then feel guilty if they didn’t have enough money to spend. What a horrible feeling to have on Christmas morning.

Instead of focusing on all that a child “gets” each year, I think helping a child to be mindful of others, charitable, giving, gracious and kind (not only during the holidays) for Christmas are far better and longer lasting gifts the give them.

I believed in santa until I was 14 and I still do in away, I know he’s not real, but I still believe and I also have nieces and nephews so I go along with it. And when I do have kids they will believe in santa for as long as they want. when we were kids we believed in santa and we also made banners that said happy birthday Jesus and we knew the real meaning also.

I don’t have kids yet but I’m torn about this. I believed in Santa up until I read in a book that he wasn’t real. I was only 7 years old and I was an advanced reader so I was given books at school that were normally given to grade six students. I even talked to my teacher about it. I didn’t want to disappoint my family either so I pretended I still believed. Christmas was never the same after that so I think that if you have other traditions that get you and your family into the spirit Santa can easily be ignored.

Wow, that thread is one of the most inspirational posts I’ve read on this site. So thoughful that I’ve become to realise something… Believing is really important to adults, whether the reality is true or just imagination. So I have this feeling: would God be a Santa Claus for adults? Think about it…

Help the Boys in Blue play the Man in Red this holiday please! Take a time to give to all those children who otherwise wouldn’t have anything. Im sure some of you consider it crazy and greedy for them to hope someone will bring them something special! But I am hoping most of you will take the time to help out Toys for Tots this year whether you believe in the Man in Red or not Please show you support out Men in Blues! Especially out in Suffolk where there Warehouse was completely emptied by theives.
Semper Fidelis and Merry Christmas!
A.J.