Hellobee Boards

We are sort of doing cultural nods to thes things, but are not full on doing them. We are super rebellious against elf on a shelf because it's like an artificial brand new thing!

@Mrs. Jacks: Elf on shelf gives me the heebee jebbies.

I've gone back and forth on Santa particularly. 1) I want our child to understand the meaning of Christmas & why it is so important & 2) to understand that mom and dad work hard for these gifts not some mystery man dropping them off in the middle of the night.

I think we have decided we will do stockings from Santa & maybe a small gift, but all large presents will be from us. We will also really teach the meaning of Christmas to avoid the "gift crazy" center I have seen in other people. I don't want her to miss out on Santa & the fact her cousins all have it is another reason. But definetely will be low key in our house.

(I do love Elf on the Shelf though) so I might have to throw that in

We do Christmas, some form of Easter, etc, but will not have Santa and the Easter Bunny. My parents were clear with me that there was no such thing but we could have the other cultural traditions in our home, and I'm happy to carry that on.

@Mrs. Jacks: And no elf on a shelf!

We'll do Santa for a while, but I caught on really early and I'm pretty sure my kids will, too. But we'll still do gifts "from Santa" each year.. with them knowing it's really us. We have already done Easter baskets but I didn't say they were from the Easter Bunny.. I was kind of planning on saying it, but when he saw them, it felt really weird to outright lie and say the Easter Bunny left them..!! Maybe I feel more comfortable about Santa since there are gifts under the tree from Mommy and Daddy too? and the Santa gift is just kind of the bonus?

We love love love traditions and didn't have a whole lot growing up since our parents were immigrants and not very aware of things like the Easter Bunny, so I love to provide those things for my kids (but mostly so they'll have the presents and treats for the holidays). I think the characters themselves (Santa, Easter Bunny, etc) will just be holiday-themed characters to know about and visit, like Disney characters or Elmo. You know?

ETA: oh yeah, we are religious and celebrate Easter and Christmas at church for those reasons as well. I think of Santa / Easter Bunny as separate celebrations.

@Arden: ah, that's a great way of putting it-- like fairy tales. And yes, how in the world to not spoil it for other kids...??? Gahh.

@mrs. wagon: My Mom just told me "Some people like to pretend its real, and they get very sad when they find out that it's make-believe. So let's be nice and let them pretend, and when they are ready to know, their parents can tell them."

I never told anyone!

@Arden: Wow that is a great explanation. We aren't doing Santa etc. but I have been struggling with how to not ruin it for everyone who chooses to do so.

My son is 2.5 and he really wants to believe in Santa -- it's impossible to avoid the idea via books, TV, ads, other people, etc. Last Christmas he didn't really care so much but after that he's been like, "I want Santa to come" and "I want to meet Santa" and I feel kind of sad about that I don't want to burst his bubble but it's a decision we've made as a family.

I love celebrating holidays. My mom transformed the entire house into a magical wonderland every Christmas, and if my husband would let me I'd start decorating the day after Halloween. Halloween is my second favorite holiday, and I'm not allowed to start decorating for that until the end of September. (Sorry, mini hijack!)

Obviously, we celebrate holidays & believe in Santa + the Easter Bunny. It's a tradition we both had as kids, and want to continue for our own. I'm the one who gets carried away in the holiday spirit, though!

@Mrs. Jacks: @NaturallyCathy: I hate Elf on the Shelf. We are definitely not doing that.

I didn't have Santa until I was older. Weird, I know. We were Jehovah's Witnesses when I was little so there was no Santa. But after my mom left the Jdubs and had my brothers we had Santa. My sister and I got to help be Santa.

We don't know what we're going to do. We might go the fairytale route that @Arden: is doing. We haven't talked about this with our parents yet and I know they are going to think we are ruining LOs childhood.

@Mrs. Jump Rope: My mom did the same thing, transformed our apartment into a Christmas wonderland. But I hated it!

I think as long as things are presented with the historical information, there is no reason not to share traditions with kids. What I have a hard time with is people dressing up as Santa or wearing an Easter Bunny costume. I just don't get the point of that.

We celebrate Christmas and Easter, we just leave out the Santa and Easter Bunny parts. Neither of us grew up with these characters, so they're simply not part of our holiday mindsets at all.
I still loooooooove Christmas though! We exchange gifts because we love each other and we remember how God loved us and sent us the gift of Jesus.
And Easter is very much a religious celebration, no smidgins of the Easter Bunny at all. We do Easter baskets and egg hunts, but more as a game- the kids know we're giving them the baskets and hiding the eggs.
I guess we'll probably have to teach them not to ruin these things for other kids though. This was also something DH and I didn't grow up with- because none of the kids we went to school or church with believed in any of these things either! Our kids will most likely attend public school though, so I guess we better tell them to zip it. We don't celebrate with these traditions, but I have nothing against those who do and I understand how special the magic of Santa is to some people.

@Mrs. Jacks: We are like that too. We don't do Santa, the Easter Bunny or any of the other holiday stuff, but we also don't ignore that it exists.

I'm not sure how to approach it this year since DS turns 3 just after Christmas and he will likely be more aware of the holiday stuff. I think his daycare does some non-religious things for the bigger holidays. Here they celebrate St. Nicholas day (Dec. 6, I think) and they get a goodie bag for that and they got a goodie bag for Easter. I'm ok with all of that as long as it doesn't turn religious. I'm not yet sure how I'm going to explain all of this to him though.

We will do the Santa and Easter bunny, but we will also teach our son the reason why we celebrate Christmas and Easter. I think knowing the reason behind the celebrations is important and not just about getting presents.

I also think elf on the shelf is creepy and won't do this.

We will definitely do Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, etc... but we aren't going to go out of our way to convince our kids that they are capital-R Real. I think it's fun and harmless to play pretend - kids live in make-believe land for only so long.

@MamaMoose: +1 I don't have any trust issues because my parents let me believe in Santa, etc. I think it's fun and look forward to it with E.

@photojane: I am 34 and my parents still sign our gifts from Santa.

I agree with @MrsMccarthy: I don't see it as lying but pretending. Santa is everywhere in stores, day care, schools, how can you hide it from your kids?

I think the important thing is to teach your children the real reason for Christmas and Easter. Not the Santa and the Easter Bunny.