In our home, we have a Christmas morning rule. ALWAYS read the tag before opening. Previously, a few presents got opened by the wrong kid, spoiling the surprise a little.
Yup, and sounds like a wonderful Mom. I could not imagine any parent constantly telling the absolute factual truth without ‘bending’ it every now & then to provide what the kid needs … it would make a very frightening & sad childhood.And on and on… yep, that’s me… a great big lyin’ old mom.
I know you love your children and want the best for them. Who doesn’t? This does not mean you have to tell children every detail of truth. Where do babies come from? They come from God. True statement without going into detail.I suppose YOU would insist it is? If so, then I lie to my little kids all the time:
You are the MOST beautiful princess in the WHOLE world! (to my 3 year old as she twirls in princess dress)
You are the smartest boy! (to her brother when he learned to tie his shoes)
I love you up to the moon and back. (have no idea how far that even is? And I no doubt love them more than that?)
There aren’t any sharks in that water! I promise you’ll be FINE! ****(To my 8 year old who was convinced she would get eaten alive by a shark in the Gulf of Mexico)
**Grandpa died and went to heaven **(never stepped foot in a church … no idea where he actually went but small children miss him terribly.)
**Where do babies come from? They come from God. How do they get in there? He puts them there. **
EAT your dinner… the starving children in Africa would love to have it! (Actually I’m not sure they’d like creamed corn any more than my kids do?)
Put your hat on… do you WANT to catch a cold? (actually I think the wearing or non-wearing of garments have nothing to do with it)
If you are nice to others, they will be nice to you. (Sooooo not always the case)
**Turn off the water… save some for the fish! **(what fish?)
Priests are holy men of God. (Sadly, not always)
**And to my sobbing 5 year old… I’m so scared Mommy… what if I get CANCER too? (her teacher had cancer) Don’t be silly… you will NOT get cancer… you do NOT need to worry about cancer. **(from my lips to God’s ears?)
And on and on… yep, that’s me… a great big lyin’ old mom.
Its the *way *you tell them. My heart was not broken, nor did I feel tricked when I learned. Same with my DW. I told my oldest, and by the *method *we told her, she still loves Santa, loves the myth & the spirit, and helps with the younger one.
I have just asked my two oldest children if they were heartbroken to learn Santa wasn’t real. They literally laughed at me. They said they actually KNEW for several years that Santa wasn’t real but didn’t let on because they still wanted the present from him. LOL - smart kids?!
If finding out Santa is a myth is so horrible and traumatic why on earth would be people continue the tradition? I never felt bad when I realized Santa was myth. I have talked with my friends, none of them had bad Santa experiences. I can tell you my husband wasn’t allowed to believe in Santa or any other mythical thing (Easter bunny ect) and it was not a positive experience for him.
Since you asked, it’s on average 477,714 miles.
haha! I Love this post!Since you asked, it’s on average 477,714 miles.
Presuming you drove that continuously at 75 miles per hour it’d take you 265.4 days.
I may love my kids more than that too, but the number of “are we there yets?” that would occur in a trip of that length would have my anger equalling my love
PTSD = post traumatic Santa disorder?
Seems to me that childless drama queens come up with this stuff…
This thread = :slapfight:
I see both sides of the ‘debate.’ This side is so very true…it saddens me when I think of kids who believe themselves to be good boys and girls, and yet they end up with nothing on Christmas, because mom and dad just don’t have the money…etc etc etc…
We celebrate St Nicholas day and with the older children, we talk about how Santa is “sort of” St Nicholas. We watch all the fun Santa videos and sing some Santa songs–because they are fun. We don’t wait up for Santa, Santa doesn’t bring their gifts or fill their stockings. Santa is a guy in a red suit who likes Christmas a lot, just like the Grinch is green and hates Christmas–until he learns what it means. It’s just stories. I think the oldest is the only one to ever have a picture with Santa, that was when he was 2 and before we had made a solid decision about Santa.
I keep bringing this up. (I don’t know why this is so important to me. My kids are all teenagers or beyond.) But it *is *important to me that Santa == St. Nicholas.
I agree with you. I hardly even say Santa, I almost always say St Nicholas when we see a man in a red suit
. Our school recently had a fund raiser at Barnes and Nobles and we had St Nicholas there handing out prayer cards and candy canes (in public! ) and speaking about who St Nicholas is. If we ever hope to take back Christmas and Santa, we have to relate it to who Santa REALLY is–I guess all the North Pole, elves and such bug me more than anything anymore. I read the article posted and I don’t disagree that fairy tales and fantasy are important, but I think for various children it can be harmful to perpetuate the fantasy of Santa–maybe to excess or beyond when the child should be moving on. If the child is asking questions, perhaps that’s the time we need to move on to the next step–instead of “insisting” they believe…?I love St. Nicholas so much I have a genuine statue of him, one of those vintage ones from the 1950s. And I spend a good deal of Advent out St. Nicking people, esp. people who need help but don’t need to know from whence the help came.
I have been looking for my ideal St. Nicholas statue/figure for the last few years. It can be a statue or some kind of doll but I’d like it to be at least 12 inches tall and not cheesy looking.