Santa

[diggitydot]

Santa

Anonymous guy in the mall has most likely been background checked. Also, more people are sexually assaulted/abused by "known entities" than by strangers.

[Pollyanna]

Love the whole idea of Santa With that said we are a St. Nicholas family and talk about Santa as the Saint. We don't visit Santa at the mall or anything (mostly cuz that's just one more thing that I could never get done, lol). Our kids seem to stop believing around 9-10 years and we have two more little ones to continue the magic with. The olders have as much fun with this as dh and I do. We don't have an Elf in a Shelf but dd4 wants one so we might do it next year. I would do the "he's watching you thing" though because I expect good behavior all year long so I find it a little silly to link to Santa.

[SoonerTexan]

Maybe, but it's not like I'm sending her to Santa to be babysat or that he is pretending to be Santa all year long to get at kids.

[PrincessFiona]

Well ... we perpetuate the myth....and the whole family gets in on it. I use the Portable North Pole for naughty/nice lists. We wish on the first snow flakes of the season and the snow flake travels to the North Pole. We talk about elves and Santa and giving. It's fun. Each year, one of us dresses up as Santa and comes into the house and puts gifts under the tree while the little ones get to watch.

This year, it was ME! Here's a pic!

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Zoe is our only believer now, so the whole family was in on it. She went to bed and then when the door creeked open, everyone snuck to the landing to take a peak at Santa pulling gifts out of the big bag and putting them under the tree. She was so excited and mesmerized .... as were my 14 year old son, and .... my mom.

All of our children were essentially "lied to" as kids and yet they all find the idea of Santa magical and love perpetuating the myth. They all believed in Santa until they were at least 8, but Andrew believed through the 4th grade. None of them felt traumatized at finding out eventually .... and they all get into it. This year, I was asked if I would continue to do the Santa thing even after Zoe stops believing. Uh. No.

As they stop believing in Santa (and no, I don't jump all over it with honesty at the first sign of doubt ... I am a big, giant, fat, liar) then we talk about how great it would be if there was a Santa and how there are people out there who really do get nothing for Christmas and how we can play Santa in real life by donating toys to families who have nothing.

Santa is fun and magical in our house. It is a short-live phenomenon .... but for my children it has been a magical part of growing up. All of them have fond memories of seeing Santa sneak into our house when they were younger and none of them feel like I perpetrated a giant lie on them. I already know that Amanda plans on doing this with her own children some day.

I love Santa.

There is so much shit out there in the world that sometimes it's fun to have something hopeful to believe in ... and eventually, we can find that giving part of Santa in ourselves.

Kris

[SoonerTexan]

That picture is beautiful Kris

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

Great picture!


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[Ladybug]

so cool! I really suck at keeping it up! It's really an investmet of time and energy. What great memories

[Pollyanna]

Maybe, but it's not like I'm sending her to Santa to be babysat or that he is pretending to be Santa all year long to get at kids.

I think you're fine. It's a really neat thing that man does for the neighborhood and will be a special memory.

Kris, my kids never seemed to have playground issues either and my guess is that they were the last hold outs in 4th grade.

Our kids know that Santa will always visit our home even when they're old, cuz it's fun

[HouseofWool]

In 5th Caleb's still believes...

[metroguy]

my oldest kid (5) was an on and off believer in santa.. this yr, she's a firm believer in santa because of kindergarten and various books/tv shows she watch. my wife explicitly gave the presents (1 per child) during christmas. personally, i never understand the santa make believe. i (as a child) would have been happy to know that presents were bought by people who love me.. i have always believe santa was western/rich man's concept. i never got any presents for christmas until college when i started dating someone. yes, it does make for a difficult/depressing holiday as a kid. when in rome, do as the romans-- only reason i celebrate xmas.

[PrincessFiona]

Hugs metroguy. Merry Christmas.

kris

[v-girl]

My kid get one present each from Santa. The teenagers have fun helping. We do push the religious aspect more, but the 6 year old still asked our pastor if Santa was coming during Christmas Eve Mass. While on the altar. During the homily. (Fr invited all the kids to come up)


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[ladymoreta]

Kris, that's so cute! We do Santa, but I think we'll be one of those families that accidentally lets it slip early. I'm terrible at it! We'll keep doing Santa gifts and stockings after they don't believe, though. I love that part!

[Curegirl]

We don't do Santa. And, it's more than just the lying thing that bugs me.

1. The lying. Yes, it is the number one reason. Yes, before we went to Disney, I did prep my kids that the characters aren't real. It's just a lie on top of a lie on top of a lie. You have to keep lying. It does undermine trust.

2. It's creepy. I don't want my kids thinking some weirdo is watching them all the time. Elf on a shelf exacerbates this.

3. I've seen too many screaming kids forced to sit on Santa's lap. And this is fun? Alexia says he probably smells like ham. I think he probably smells like booze and cigarettes.

4. Chad has taken care of at least one "Santa" in the hospital. A real gem. Class A pervert who wanted to make sure his nurses shaved their pubic hair among other things.

5. I think it takes AWAY from the spirit of giving, not enhances it. We give because we love and care about people, especially individuals in our lives. We don't need some stranger with a sweat shop full of elves doing it in our stead. We want to give and we want to see our kids want to give.

6. The inequality of it all. So, was Frankie a better kid than Sally because he's a little shit a school, but he got 45 presents. He told me at school. Sally got a doll and socks. She's the nicest girl I know!

7. It can be crushing or at least sad to find out he's not real. You've stood up for him at school. You look like an idiot. Thanks.

8. Is more magical and loving that your parents pull this off for you!! They appreciate some of the amount of work that you do and are more grateful, IMO. Can they appreciate it fully? Not yet, but it's better than the Santa crap.

I actually hate Santa and it pisses me off when strangers ask my kids about him especially in front of other kids who do believe. My kids handle it well and go along with it because they've been taught that they shouldn't ruin this "fun" horrible thing for other kids.

This exactly. My parents did the Santa and Tooth Fairy thing and I vividly recall the night I discovered Santa was Mom and Dad frantically wrapping presents in the middle of the night. They tried to convince me I was sleepwalking. Riiight.

[Chrisada]

I think my four year old knows, and my 1st grader told me yesterday that he knows for sure that Santa and the Tooth Fairy aren't real. I'm very matter of fact with them in terms of using reasoning and questioning. It actually made me proud that they used their reasoning to decide that Santa cannot be real.

We still do Elf in the Shelf because they love it. BTW The 1st grader was totally unfazed when he told me he can't be real and was cool with it. He told me he's known for awhile!


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