The Santa Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter SueG
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Seeking Wisdom:
I think this is great!

I always ask, “What do you think?” It gives me insight into their level of understanding. Now when my oldest asks, “Are you really Santa?” I ask her, “Are you having fun with this?” When she tells me she is I say, “Then let’s just keep having fun”.
Click to expand...
Several years ago at a Christmas Eve gathering, my nephew began bragging to his sisters and his cousins that he knew the truth about Santa. We were afraid he would ruin it for the younger kids, so I was elected to take him aside for a talk.

I began by asking him, “what’s the truth about Santa?”

He replied “everyone says you have to be good or you won’t get any presents, but I know you can do a lot of stuff and still get presents from Santa.”

It was a much different discussion than I would have had, if I had presumed to know which truth he knew.
 
We kept Santa alive as long as our kids were happy with it. None of them felt deceived or lied in part because of St Nick. Even when they realized that the part of Santa was played by their parents, they still enjoy it and refer to Santa. We always were making the point about the spirit of St Nick being still alive today. I think they understood that the practical way to keep the spirit and idea alive was throught their parents. I don’t think they felt betrayed or deceived.
 
Paul W:
…He replied “everyone says you have to be good or you won’t get any presents, but I know you can do a lot of stuff and still get presents from Santa.”

It was a much different discussion than I would have had, if I had presumed to know which truth he knew.
Click to expand...
:rotfl:

I guess the lesson in this is to make sure the kids are nice - otherwise they don’t get presents. A friend of mine had a tough year financially and they couldn’t afford many gifts for Christmas. The kids showed little gratitude for the gifts they did get. Santa didn’t come the following year and the kids learned a valuable lesson.
 
I respect everyone’s views on Santa. Personally we never made much out of it other than to generate gift lists from the kiddies and give us some cute songs to sing. They eventually grew out it all by themselves with no harm done to their psyche.

We always separated the reality of Christ as the reason for the Holiday from the gift giving part. I never thought of it as an either-or thing, or that maintaining the novelty of Santa somehow lessened the religious significance of the holiday for Christians.

As far as those who think that promoting Santa to children is damaging, or that it is equal to lying, I think they are taking an extreme view. We seem to do everything in our power as a society to force children to mature early. We surround them with adult themes and present them with adult decisions far too soon.

What’s wrong with hanging on to Santa as long as they want too? A little whimsy, wonder and novelty is good for a child. I think we should be supporting their childhood as long as possible instead of treating them like miniature adults.

I still enjoy the spirit of Santa at Christmas and I have no intention of dropping him (and I outgrew childhood long ago, even if my wife claims otherwise 😉 )

Ho! Ho! Ho! 👍
 
And what happens when they realize that Barney the Dinosaur isn’t real either?

Santa is Jesus’s friend, i.e. when they are old enough to learn about the real Saint Nick. No harm to my psyche when I learned. The key is the focus on Jesus, and what Santa does for Jesus. Santa is real, not in the marketed character but as the Saint, and I think as parents we are capable of fostering that knowledge.

I can see how non-Catholics and secularists can assume if Santa isn’t real how can Christ be real, and it is all because they don’t know who Saint Nick is.
 
We do Santa, Easter Bunny ect. I believed in Santa as a child, when I finally figured out it wasn’t real I never thought that Jesus wasn’t real either. My daughter knows what Christmas & Easter is about because of lives our centered around our faith not Santa our the Easter Bunny. Santa is part of the fantasy of being a child. The people I know that don’t do Santa ect. stuff are fundementalist protestants.

When my daughter asks is Santa real, I always ask "Well what do you think?
 
40.png
renee1258:
And what happens when they realize that Barney the Dinosaur isn’t real either?
Click to expand...
Whaddayamean? Not real? :eek: Then who will we sing the “I love you, you love me” song with?
40.png
renee1258:
Santa is Jesus’s friend, i.e. when they are old enough to learn about the real Saint Nick. No harm to my psyche when I learned. The key is the focus on Jesus, and what Santa does for Jesus.
Click to expand...
He drives him around in the sleigh with Rudolph, right? 😉
40.png
renee1258:
I can see how non-Catholics and secularists can assume if Santa isn’t real how can Christ be real, and it is all because they don’t know who Saint Nick is.
Click to expand...
It’s like the old story about the secularist explaining Easter: “On the third day Jesus came out of the tomb, saw his shadow, and there were six more weeks of winter”.

If you start without faith, you can end up in some pretty strange places.
 
I will not tell my children there is a Santa. I want them believe in Christ and the true meaning of Christmas, not Santa and presents.
 
40.png
StephiePea:
I will not tell my children there is a Santa. I want them believe in Christ and the true meaning of Christmas, not Santa and presents.
Click to expand...
I understand that your choice reflects your beliefs and values, however, I think you are just depriving your children of one of the magical parts of childhood. But you must raise them as you see fit. For me and mine, I never saw the harm in saving a small sliver of Christmas for the jolly old elf.

I doubt Jesus is threatened by Santa. I don’t see why we should be. The world is still magical to children. It only gets cold and real when we grow up. I’m all for delaying that inevitability as long as possible.

Now where did I put my beard…? :tiphat:
 
40.png
OhioBob:
I understand that your choice reflects your beliefs and values, however, I think you are just depriving your children of one of the magical parts of childhood. But you must raise them as you see fit. For me and mine, I never saw the harm in saving a small sliver of Christmas for the jolly old elf.

I doubt Jesus is threatened by Santa. I don’t see why we should be. The world is still magical to children. It only gets cold and real when we grow up. I’m all for delaying that inevitability as long as possible.

Now where did I put my beard…? :tiphat:
Click to expand...
Lets see. An Angel visits a young modest virgin and tells her she will concieve a son, and not just any son, but the Son of God. She accepts this task and an adventure unlike any other begins. He is born in a barn (literally), and lives the most incredible life ever lived. Then he does the unthinkable…he lays his life down for mankind. This is the greatest story ever told. Why would we want to fog it up with Santa and Easter bunnies? Who needs it, and why should we lie to children?
 
A funny story: my best friend told her children that there was no Santa and that some people just liked to pretend. They were very adamant about their teaching. Last Christmas, when her 4 year old son woke up and came into the living room full of presents, he yelled, “See mom! I told you Santa was real!”

As for us: my husband and I really differed about it, ((I didn’t want to tell them about Santa at all) but we do talk about Santa. I tell my daughter that Santa brings us presents because he’s so excited about Jesus being born that he wants to celebrate!
 
40.png
StephiePea:
Lets see. An Angel visits a young modest virgin and tells her she will concieve a son, and not just any son, but the Son of God. She accepts this task and an adventure unlike any other begins. He is born in a barn (literally), and lives the most incredible life ever lived. Then he does the unthinkable…he lays his life down for mankind. This is the greatest story ever told. Why would we want to fog it up with Santa and Easter bunnies? Who needs it, and why should we lie to children?
Click to expand...
OK. You’re right. We certainly wouldn’t want childhood to be too much fun. 😉
 
40.png
jjanderson:
When I was a child and found out there was no Santa Clause, the first thing I thought was, oh no, is Jesus just make believe, too? I thought long and hard about that when I had children and decided not to lie to them about Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy. We told them Santa was a real person named St. Nicholas, and that we celebrate his generosity and charity at Christmas time because that’s when we got the greatest gift of all (Jesus). Easter Bunner (because bunnies have so many babies) represents new life (resurrection). We still say Santa is coming and Easter Bunny, and we all know we’re just pretending. Kids love to pretend, and it’s especially fun when mom and dad join in. But we tell them the truth when they ask, and even though they know the truth it hasn’t taken the fun out of it at all, we’ve retained our credibility and Jesus is indisputedly and undeniably REAL!! Peace in Christ +
Click to expand...
I did the same as you and it went over fine. I did not want to lie so when asked I told the story of st nick and how it was continued in this way.
 
40.png
Hischild246:
I did the same as you and it went over fine. I did not want to lie so when asked I told the story of st nick and how it was continued in this way. What I dislike is some people, mostly other denominations saying that I am following a pagan ritual or philosophy esp. with the Easter bunny.
Click to expand...
 
Well, the Easter bunny stuff is just crazy, although we do have an Easter hunt now and then, but that’s just for fun. Can’t pass up the opportunity for chocolate! We didn’t do the Easter bunny thing when we were kids, though. With Christmas, however, when we were younger my parents didn’t speak about Santa Claus, they spoke of “el Nino Dios” (the Child God, ie Baby Jesus) bringing us toys and all that through the aid of a jolly red-suited man who delivered the stuff in some kind of vehicle that flew and left magical glitter on our yard. And then we had “los Reyes Magos” (the Three Kings) come to leave candy in our stockings on the Feast of the Epiphany just as they had presented their gifts to Our Lord. I believe this is the custom in most Latin American countries.

😉 So I guess the myth and magic were still there but the emphasis was on Truth. When the time came we weren’t resentful or devastated and the transition was pretty smooth. It’s kind of funny, it was just sort of a gradual general consensus; none of us asked and neither parent stated it right out.

Perhaps it’s kind of similar to the methods some of you have already mentioned… Anyway. It saddens me sometimes to see people deprive their young children of this, but then you have the extremes who only give them Santa without any of the real base, not even the St. Nicholas background. sigh But what do I know? I’ve only been on one side of the issue. Those who themselves are parents have been on both (most of the time). Actually, I really like a lot of the approaches given on this thread. Kudos for teaching your children well!
 
Friends,

I grew up in a Catholic family, but have to admit that the holiday seemed more about Santa (getting and giving presents, generosity, love, peace on Earth, etc…). Jesus’ birth was second on the list (in my mind). Of course, me and my brother’s argued all during advent about the positioning of the various figures in the nativity! I like someone’s post where they referred to the “reality” of Christmas. Not that Santa doesn’t exist, but that Jesus does!!!

I have two young boys now, and I admit it’s been hard for me, personally, to shift my focus from Santa, snowmen, garland and decorations, and gifts, to repentance, hope, and excitement for the coming of Christ. I have purposely not talked a lot about Santa for the last several years, but mostly talked about Jesus’ Birthday. (My sons are 5 and 2). Much to my surprise, when asked about being excited about Christmas, my 5 year old responded with, “Yes, I’m excited. It’s Jesus’ birthday.”

My husband and I have had to remind ourselves to mention Santa the week or so before Christmas, so our kids aren’t wondering why there are presents under the tree!

I’m hoping my kids’ perspective will rub back off on me, and I can, without thought, put Jesus first in my mind and heart during this blessed season.

Cathy
 
I am not going to lie to my kids…why? Why lie to your kids, only to make them devistated later? Even if you teach them about St. Nick, you still have to lie about why he is still “alive”. Think about this. Kids are fragile. If you lie about them with santa, easter bunny, tooth fairy, etc. and the kids gets gifts from these “people” and then they find out they are not real. Do you think your kid is still going to believe you about God, who they feel that they get nothing from? How does your child know that you are not lying about God. Santa seems more believable than God to a child.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top