Is it a sin to "lie" about Santa to your kids?

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kage_ar said:
The candy is part of the celebration - we have been fasting through Lent - the candy is part of the Easter feast!
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Hey we look forward to the candy as much as anyone!!! 😃
Ours just isn’t left by a bunny!!! 😛
 
I tell my Daughter the stories about Saint Nicholas. We use pictures of him instead of the fat red coca-cola santa when we decorate. She knows that it’s me who leaves her presants during the night, and she knows it’s part of a tradition to help us remember to be kind to others. We also find a way to secretly give another child a gift that we know would otherwise get nothing or very little. Telling others about it is contrary to the spirit of secretly helping others, so I don’t let her go tell all the other kids that Santa is only pretend – St. Nicholas was real anyhow. We have a great time with it and it also allows me to teach her a good lesson about helping others.

I wouldn’t trade it for the magical mythical Santa for anything. It also gets around the lying problem. 🙂
 
aboverubies said:
The thing that really bothers me about the Santa myths are the attributes he is credited with. He sees us when we’re sleeping. He knows when we’re awake. He knows if we’ve been bad or good… and rewards us accordingly.
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STOP STALKING ME SANTA!!!
The tooth fairy myth is a harmless myth in itself because it doesn’t seek to obliterate a Holy religious holiday. The Santa myth and the easter bunny myth do. In fact in many ways they already have. 😦
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The tooth fairy didn’t leave me any money when my last baby tooth finally fell out in adulthood last year. I don’t believe in her anymore! (Oh, wait, maybe it was because I forgot to put the tooth in the magic tooth bag).
 
As a kid, I made out twice. St. Nicholas filled my shoes with candy on Dec. 6 and Santa filled my stocking and brought gifts on Dec. 25. That was cool. And I think it made it easier for the two to later come together when I realized that St. Nicholas was a real person who we were honoring by the tradition and Santa was my parents/grandparents/aunts and uncles who were similarly honoring the tradition.
 
Bruised_Reed said:
I would answer honestly if they would ask…
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I think this is really the important factor. Up until the moment Johnny asks, “Mommy, is the tooth fairy real?” Santa & company can be just a fun, innocent game of let’s pretend. But if Mommy answers, “Yes, it’s real,” in answer to an honest inquiry, that is where the lie begins.
 
Syele said:
I tell my Daughter the stories about Saint Nicholas. We use pictures of him instead of the fat red coca-cola santa when we decorate. She knows that it’s me who leaves her presants during the night, and she knows it’s part of a tradition to help us remember to be kind to others. We also find a way to secretly give another child a gift that we know would otherwise get nothing or very little. Telling others about it is contrary to the spirit of secretly helping others, so I don’t let her go tell all the other kids that Santa is only pretend – St. Nicholas was real anyhow. We have a great time with it and it also allows me to teach her a good lesson about helping others.

I wouldn’t trade it for the magical mythical Santa for anything. It also gets around the lying problem. 🙂
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How lovely! 🙂 We will be introducing St Nicholas to our little ones this year. As Catholics we have a real saint to teach the spirit of giving and bring the excitement of secret gifts into the season for parents and children. I just can’t understand why we need to confuse and distract kids with the red suit commercial Santa???

And as St Nicholas’ feast day is Jan 6th it doesn’t detract from the birth of our Lord and our focus on the Holy Family at Christmas.👍
 
aboverubies said:
And as St Nicholas’ feast day is Jan 6th it doesn’t detract from the birth of our Lord and our focus on the Holy Family at Christmas.👍
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It’s Dec. 6 (during Advent so, likewise not really a distraction). Jan 6 is (traditionally) the Solemnity of the Epiphany.
 
Has anyone seen the book or figurine of Santa kneeling at the manger? I think that could give perspective to little ones who get so excited about Santa and presents.
 
Della said:
I wouldn’t call telling children about Santa lying, either. Some of our greatest Catholic writers loved fairy tales and myths, such as G. K. Chesterton and especially J. R. R. Tolkien. And they are right to “believe” in them for they open for us a part of our hearts and souls that mere reality cannot.

Santa represents the fun and joy of Christmas as well as generosity and kindness. This is what we are really teaching our children by telling them stories about Santa, and other fantasy characters. To many good, intelligent people Tolkien’s elves and hobbits are just as “real” as Santa–they are for me.

When your children are old enough to understand, this is what you tell them–that Santa represents the spirit of Christmas, all the while telling them about the real person, St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children.

We shouldn’t squash creativity and imagination in the name of “truth” when in fact, creativity and imagination are what make truth come to life for us. And as a parent only you can know what is good for your own children. Some children benefit greatly by belief in Santa while others only want to know what is “true,” in the ordinary sense of the word. I always believed in Santa, and in a way I still do. I think it a harmless thing to pass on to children and a good way to introduce them to the virtues of giving and kindliness.
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I guess I usually always saw it along those lines. I love the myths & fairy tails, and everything that goes along with the celebrations even if it is a bit too commercial. It seems we’ve gotten a bit too scientific, and lost a lot of the imagination and creativity and abstract ideas to draw from.

As far as Santa being a myth and children thinking God is just ‘made up’ like that too, I always have to go back to one of the ideas of GK Chesterton, is that when it comes to Jesus and his death on the cross, that is The Myth, the best myth of them all, & everyone else pales in comparison. That is because that is the one myth that is True. All other ones do their best, and maybe even try to point to this one, but that is the one where it all comes together.

Santa might see you when your sleeping and when your awake, and that depends on the presents you get, but God sees you when your sleeping and when your awake and when you’ve been bad or good, but he loves you, and is always reaching out to you in forgiveness and mercy and wants you to accept salvation and be in communion with Love. Santa was only the prep for a much much better one. Santa must at some point in time descend, he knows he is not worthy to hold the sandals of God, so that God can ascend, who holds the much better gifts.
 
I once saw a book that had many stories of Santa, St. Nicholas, and Father Christmas from all over the world. I wanted it to read to my kid too but I can’t remember the title or author to buy it. DOes anyone know what book it is?

Dec. 6 is early enough that presants bought for other children have time to get to them if we send them that day too…
 
aboverubies said:
ooops!:o
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But that’s ok as the gifts which the Wise Men gave Christ fits in nicely (and Epiphany is when the rest of the world gives gifts, anyway).

(And like I said earlier, it’s a good reason to give candy out on the 6th of Dec! Please mom and dad, um I mean St, Nick, give us candy! Lots and lots of candy in our shoes.) 🙂
 
chicago said:
But that’s ok as the gifts which the Wise Men gave Christ fits in nicely (and Epiphany is when the rest of the world gives gifts, anyway).

(And like I said earlier, it’s a good reason to give candy out on the 6th of Dec! Please mom and dad, um I mean St, Nick, give us candy! Lots and lots of candy in our shoes.) 🙂
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And don’t forget little toys, such as small superballs, and jump ropes, and Silly Putty.
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
And don’t forget little toys, such as small superballs, and jump ropes, and Silly Putty.
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Yeah! I’ll take all of those too! Hmmm… how many shoes do I have? It’s so nice of you all to offer to play St. Nick for me! Only about two weeks to go.
 
Exactly what is it that you consider a lie?

He knows when you are sleeping, He knows when you’re awake, He know if you’ve been bad or good…? Nope, that’s true.

St. Nicholas? He’s a real man. Really alive. In a sense more alive than you and I.

Giving gifts to children? My kids get presents.

Generosity? Thats a real virtue.

White beard, red suit, reindeer, North Pole? Hmmmm. Those fall in the category of myth.

I wonder if you would be accurate to separate falsehoods from lies. A falsehood would be the broad category of anything that is not true. A lie would be a specific kind of falsehood told with the intent to deceive.

I told my wife a falsehood in order to lure her to a surprise party. My intent was not to deceive, but to eventually show her the truth. My intent was to show her how many people cared about her.
 
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