Don't Lie about Santa Clause!

[childofmary1143]

You know when I was about 20 I saw the movie for the first time “Miracle on 34th Street”. I must say that I found it quite amusing that the character “Doris Walker” would actually think that its wrong to tell her kid about fairy tales. She said “lets be honest”. Of course her reasons for that had nothing to do with truth but with pain and heartache which she experienced.

Looking at it I thought that people like “Doris Walker” on exist on tv or in the movies but then we have this thread.

Will wonders never cease about human behaviour?

 

[IsMiseSteise]

I have a question…

Why do people get their knickers all twisted over Santa Claus? Believers and non-believers alike? Why?

 

[pnewton]

My son believes in snowmen. I guess one of these days when he’s older he’ll ask me if snow is real.

 

[Imagine23]

Could you cite a reference for those of us who are Catechismically-challenged re:“white lies”. How about having Santa in the Communion procession at Midnight Mass as has happened at my parish for several years now? How do you explain that to children? And for those who believe children know better, my son once stated, to our utter horror, that he believed in Santa but didn’t think he believed in God. Talk about a catechetical moment!

You should be extremely proud of your son for his statement of disbelief. It shows an ability to think critically on his part. He saw no evidence of God’s existence and therefore logically wondered why he should believe in something that allegedly had these fantastic powers that are never demonstrated.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Along the same lines as childofmary1143’s reference (emphases added):

I will leave it to others (preferably on other threads) to work out the moral calculus of whether there are lies which fail any or all of: (a) to deceive, (b) to lead to error, or (c) are directed at someone who has the right to know the truth, and which may be termed as “white lies”.

But to stay on topic: I will refer again to [post=1755049]my experience with my son[/post]. When he inquired about the truth regarding Santa Claus, I did not deceive him, nor do I believe I did him any injustice by telling him the story of Santa Claus when he was younger. I do know people, however, whose parents *did *deliberately deceive them in similar circumstances, and I do not blame those folks for being bitter about their experience, and I believe their parents were quite mistaken to have done so.

:twocents:
tee

“White lies” are still lies. Lies and murder, by any name, are still lies, just as murder is murder : they are all intrinsically evil, and are all excellent pathways to hell.​

Not all fictions are lies, & not all acts which cause premature death are murder - but all lies are fictions, and all murders are premature deaths: that is why fairy tales, & certain form of mental reservation OTOH, & the death sentence for crime, & certain medical procedures OTO, are morally legitimate.

The distinction is between:

A)

• 1. lies
• 1. white lies
• 1. certain forms of equivocation; telling fairy tales
     &

B)

• 1. murder
• 1. abortion
• 1. the infliction of the death penalty for crime
     In sets A & B:
• 1 & 2 are always wrong
• 3 is permissible, yet often confused with 1.
  What I don’t understand, is how a lie can be a venial sin. Some lies can be in principle venial, while all sins of lust are in principle mortal - this strikes me as odd; because Jesus is severe on both.

Although this is not strictly OT - what impresses me is just how severe Jesus is. We associate Him with Love - but this may be more because of St John & St. Paul, than because of the three Synoptic gospels: He is very austere, demanding, & abrupt (though not without a gentler side, to be sure) If we had only those three, would we think of Him as loving ? I wonder. Maybe the character of Jesus is a subject for another thread ##

 

[Syele]

My daughter, from the age of 3, went around asking “Are statues alive?” “Was Cinderella really a real person?” “How come her step-sisters were mean?” “Do reindeer really know how to fly?” " Do ants sleep?" “If there are really elves how come I never saw one? Are they real?” “Can the wicked witch really hurt me?” “How can a Big Bad wolf blow down a house?” “Is Santa real?”

I’m Mommy. To a little kid Mommys are superheros, we know everything. What we say is how it really really is. As you can see I have a very curious child. She wants to know, and she trusts me not to steer her wrongly. Someone asked, Do I start stories with once upon a time or go on about how the story isn’t real. Well I say “I’m gonna tell you a story…” or l"et me read you a story", My child wants to know if it’s real. She asks. I don’t lie.

What worries me is not that people “lie to their kids about Santa”, Most kids are able to understand when they figure it out that is was a game of pretend (though there are rare kids who resent it.) What worries me are the people who get ANGRY with me because my child knows the truth. We don’t have less fun because of it - I haven’t “stolen her childhood.” I feed her love of knowledge and we play great games at Christmas and we center them on Christ. I suppose I have committed a crime!

 

[Lee44]

Hi,

don’t forget the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy. I say be honest with your children, but don’t deny them their childhood.

Best Wishes,
Lee44

 

[runandsew]

It was hard for our family to deny the existence of Santa Claus since he lived next door.
Laurie, our neighbor, was Santa Claus. He had the outfit, the beard; he even had an official Oregon state sleigh driver’s license card that the state issued to him with the name Santa Claus on it.
He would spend the holidays visiting the nursing homes and such, and every Christmas, morning, he would knock on our door, dressed up as Santa with his gifts for our children which had “fallen out of his sleigh”. He was a very devout Catholic, and family man. He passed away a few years ago, and we dearly miss him… Now how do you tell your children that Santa died!!!

 

[Syele]

It was hard for our family to deny the existence of Santa Claus since he lived next door.
Laurie, our neighbor, was Santa Claus. He had the outfit, the beard; he even had an official Oregon state sleigh driver’s license card that the state issued to him with the name Santa Claus on it.
He would spend the holidays visiting the nursing homes and such, and every Christmas, morning, he would knock on our door, dressed up as Santa with his gifts for our children which had “fallen out of his sleigh”. He was a very devout Catholic, and family man. He passed away a few years ago, and we dearly miss him… Now how do you tell your children that Santa died!!!

You tell them that he was imitating St. Nicholas who loved Children and gave to them as Jesus would want him too.

Who is St. Nicholas? - St. Nicholas Center

Everything about St Nicholas: stories, customs, crafts & more.

www.stnicholascenter.org

By his example of generosity to those in need, especially children, St. Nicholas continues to be a model for the compassionate life. stnicholascenter.org/stnic/images/french-postcard.jpg
Vintage French Postcard
St Nicholas Center Collection Widely celebrated in Europe, St. Nicholas’ feast day, December 6th, kept alive the stories of his goodness and generosity.

What an oppurtunity to teach children about generosity and compassion for others that Jesus would want us all to imatate and to fondly remember their very own Santa all their lives.

 

[runandsew]

You tell them that he was imitating St. Nicholas who loved Children and gave to them as Jesus would want him too.
What an oppurtunity to teach children about generosity and compassion for others that Jesus would want us all to imatate and to fondly remember their very own Santa all their lives.

The kids are all grown now.
We celebrate St. Nicholas day every year, and we used that to seperate the “Santa” theme away from Christmas a little bit, plus getting a gift early in the season, I feel kept them from focusing of presents through out Advent.
At first the kids believed in santa, but they also knew all about St. Nicholas, once they stopped believing in santa, we really reinforced the loving and giving that St. Nicholas showed us as an example of how we love others at Christmas by giving to them.

 

[juno24]

Santa Claus is a product of Coca Cola, it is part of their marketing strategy, they took the fatherly image of saint nicolas and created a costume resembling a new person.

This is not true at all. Please take a look at the Snopes page on this topic. It has a very good history of the evolution of the image of Santa Claus. Coca Cola by no means created the modern image of Santa Claus-- they simply capitalized upon it.

The modern American image of Santa Claus is an amalgam of several different cultural traditions Re: Saint Nicholas and the Christ Child.

 

[aspawloski4th]

Why are there always so many people that are willing to tell others how to raise their children? To each their own. We are devoutly Catholic and we have presents from Santa Claus. Just as Jesus taught in parables, there are many good lessons to be derived from such stories. I will neither teach my kids that Santa is real, or not real. When they are old enough to start and question, they can work it out themselves. I consider it a type of progressive revelation.

while I dont disagree in any big way with this post, I feel compelled to answer why I do and say things that would appear to be telling some how to raise their children. on account of the work place having worked in a pizza joint and a car dealership most of my adult life, Ive had my nose rubbed very hard in people’s raising their kids the wrong way. Ive grown tired of dealing with other people’s kids and people from my genderation who were raised the wrong way. Im tired of dealing with kids doing b.s. that my butt would of been kicked for. im tired of young adults who are irresponsible and have no manners. I think a lot more poeple need to be told how to raise their kids. at the current rate in a few years please and thankyou will be words found only in unabridged dictionaries. at where I work there is only one other person than me who is ontime on a consistant basis. the manager cant fire anyone for being late because he is late all the time himself. quite frankly where grown up or still kids, Im tired a dealing with other people’s kids. we dont any new ideas in raising children , like with holding santa claus from them, what we need is good old fashioed common sense and disclepline.

 

[pira114]

After re-reading this post, I realized that I’ve been lying to my kids for years.

So, I told them there was no Santa, tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, etc… Returned all their gifts and told them to stop their sniviling and wipe the tears off their littly pansy faces.

Then, I thought, if one white lie is bad, then they all must be, right? That’s what this thread is all about and I finally get it.

So, I told my boys they are lucky to be white because not everyone has the same opportunities in life. But, unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of money, so they really can’t be whatever they want. They have to face reality now that they will most likely not go to college and either join the military or get a dead end job. I tried to explain to them that I just wanted to give them hope and make them feel better, but that it was a lie and I was sorry. They really couldn’t be whatever they wanted in life.

Then I told my daughter that she should just worry about how she looks, cuz women can’t ever be as good as men. She will most likely have a lesser paying job that does the same as a man. She should not set her goals to high, because in a male dominated world, she could only get so far. I told her I didn’t mean to lie to her when I said that she could change things and really make a difference in the world. Told her she should concentrate on looking good for a rich man.

I’m glad this thread showed me the error of “little white lies.” I wouldn’t want to lie to a child and ruin their lives by giving them hope and happiness at such a young age.

 

[kim3260]

After re-reading this post, I realized that I’ve been lying to my kids for years.

So, I told them there was no Santa, tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, etc… Returned all their gifts and told them to stop their sniviling and wipe the tears off their littly pansy faces.

Then, I thought, if one white lie is bad, then they all must be, right? That’s what this thread is all about and I finally get it.

So, I told my boys they are lucky to be white because not everyone has the same opportunities in life. But, unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of money, so they really can’t be whatever they want. They have to face reality now that they will most likely not go to college and either join the military or get a dead end job. I tried to explain to them that I just wanted to give them hope and make them feel better, but that it was a lie and I was sorry. They really couldn’t be whatever they wanted in life.

Then I told my daughter that she should just worry about how she looks, cuz women can’t ever be as good as men. She will most likely have a lesser paying job that does the same as a man. She should not set her goals to high, because in a male dominated world, she could only get so far. I told her I didn’t mean to lie to her when I said that she could change things and really make a difference in the world. Told her she should concentrate on looking good for a rich man.

I’m glad this thread showed me the error of “little white lies.” I wouldn’t want to lie to a child and ruin their lives by giving them hope and happiness at such a young age.

I totally agree with your post, I am a “very bad mama” too, Thankfully there are many judgemental people here to let us know how bad we are

 

[Mintaka]

I suspect that this is an example of why parents need to have judgment. If you think, for good and sufficient reasons, that your kid will have a problem of some kind with the Santa Claus game, fine. If you think that your kids will enjoy it as much as you did, and that they should get a few presents that aren’t owed to their parents and relatives’ bank accounts, fine. Do what you think is right, according to your knowledge of yourselves and your kids. Anybody who thinks Santa is a lie isn’t going to play the game correctly, anyhow.

OTOH, if you do choose to tell your kids that there’s no such thing as Santa, you darned well better tell 'em not to tell other kids and ruin their family’s game.

 

[deb1]

I I then explained that Santa is anyone who gives a gift secretly, without expecting a thank you. I explained that she herself had been Santa when she helped me pick out a present for a girl whose name was on the Angel Tree the year before.

Then I added, “Daddy and I would like to invite you to be Santa with us this year. After your sister falls asleep, we’ll go get you, and you can fill the stockings.”

!

One of my most fond memories is my stepfather explaining to me that there was no Santa. I was nine years old and he took me into his bedroom. We sat on the bed and he told me that he wanted to have a grown up discussion with me.

In a kindly way he explained that there was no Santa. He told me how he found out when he was young. He also told me that I could be a “Santa” whenever I helped someone without their knowledge. It was a wonderful experience for me. I felt grownup and special

As each of my children have gotten to be nine, I have explained Santa to them. None expressed anger and all were eager to help the younger children enjoy the magic that comes with believing.

I think that more resentment comes when parents don’t tell their children the truth but let other children do so instead.