Or to put it another way, are you going to tell your kids that Santa is real?
Also, what was your own experience: how did your parents handle Santa Claus? When did you find out the news about Santa...
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Yes, I think I will. My parents let me believe until one year (I was maybe 7 or 8?) when I decided to stay up until midnight and wait for Santa to arrive as that is when they always told me he came. So at midnight, the jig was up! I remember that my mom let me sit there next to the tree aaalllll night long waiting for the dude. Now that I think about it she could have told me earlier and sent me to bed! I must have been a sorry sight, too! Maybe she thought I would want proof so she let me stay up?
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I hadn't actually given this any thought and this thread prompted me to ask my husband, so thanks! He's Jewish (non-practicing anymore) and so, obviously didn't grow up celebrating Christmas at all. It's a BIG deal in my family, so I'm slowly indoctrinating him
Husband responded that he didn't mind- whatever I want. I think we'll do Santa. It's so much fun! My brother and I figured it out together when I was about 8. We found the box for the basketball hoop that Santa brought us in the garbage. It wasn't traumatic, so I figure our kid can handle it. -
Yes, we will definitely let them believe there is a Santa. My husband loves Christmas and I think he will be the one encouraging the kids that Santa is real. I think I believed in Santa until I was 8 or 9, when I found my letter to Santa on my mom's dressing table way after Christmas.
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hm. i'm all for santa claus but i just asked my hubby and he gave me a flat no. i don't remember if my parents specifically told me about santa claus but they always packed the gifts as if it were from them. i was genuinely curious about how he got in our house when we had no chimney! i may have learned that he's not real at school or church or somewhere.
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We are definitely going to play up the Santa Claus stuff. There's just such a wonderful innocence about it. We did this for my little brother and it was so fun when he would send Santa his Xmas list and then track him on Christmas eve (yup there's actually a website that tracks Santa!) as he got older he figured it out the truth from the kids at school and now he joins us in helping with the younger kids in the family.
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I can't imagine Christmas without Santa as a child! If they get to a point where they're asking us if he's real or not I'm not sure how far I'll try to push it, but Santa makes Christmas so magical!
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Our LOs will know that Santa's a fictional and fun character. We'll be teaching them that Jesus is the reason for the season!
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Not sure. My parents are old-school Chinese so we never did the Santa thing. We'll probably celebrate with a tree, presents, but maybe no Santa. We'll see.
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I love Christmas and think Santa is super fun. I'm fairly certain we will do presents from Santa under the tree and let them get swept away in the magic of Christmas. Plus, I think it is good for kids. When they are old enough to question it, because the facts don't match what they know to be true, we know that they are able to critically look at the world.
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My parents always did the Santa thing, but the deal was all the presents were from Mom & Dad except one or two from Santa (so we would appreciate gifts from them). I don't remember actually ever believing in Santa so there was no big shock when he wasn't real, it was just a fun thing for us all to do together. I imagine we'll do the same type of thing for our kids.
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I'm Jewish and my husband is Christian...so I think I will leave it up to him to decide. I managed not to spoil Santa for other kids growing up, so I'll do the same for ours as long as he wants our kids to enjoy Santa.
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Most definitely. I don't quite recall how I found out Santa wasn't real, but we lived in a townhouse with no fireplace until middle school and I remember trying to figure out how Santa came to our house (when I did still believe in him). It wasn't until I saw Tim Allen's Santa Clause movie (when I was older) that I figured out Santa is MAGIC and can fit down any pipe!
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We're planning on treating Santa like any other cartoon character. He's something fun and playful but not real.
I don't really like the idea of telling kids they have to be good or Santa won't come..I want my kids to behave year round regardless of a made up man.
We will, however, stress to our kids that's it's not okay to "ruin" Santa for other kids. We will explain that different families celebrate different things and if they want to believe in Santa, that's up to them. I don't want to have the know it all brats who run around and make the whole class cry by outing that Santa is a fake.
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We'll definitely have Santa! Santa's such a magical thing for kids and is so much fun to believe in! Plus it's fun to pretend as an adult and do those things to thrill your kids! I don't remember how old I was when I realized Santa wasn't real, but I remember it was the year that "Santa" forgot to stuff our cats' stockings (haha, yes, our cats had stockings) and I was like "Oh no! Santa forgot the cats!" and my mom goes "Oh yeah," and grabs some stuff off the top of the fridge and puts it in the cats' stockings.
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We plan to let our LO believe in Santa. Once they get the point where they question it, I won't try to convince them otherwise. But until then, I have no issues with letting them believe!
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We will NOT be having our kids believe in Santa Claus. I'm not criticizing people that do, but I don't want my kids starting their lives with a lie from their parents. I want them to trust me.
We'll tell them about the concept of Santa Claus, and tell them that he isn't real but parents make him up as a nice story. But lots of kids don't know the real story yet, so don't tell your friends!
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I figured out that Santa was not real when I was 3 and asked my mom. She told me the truth. While I'm glad she did that and probably would do the same thing, I'm sad I have no memories of Santa at all. I do think its a magical thing for children and I hope to get my second chance through our kids!
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I totally plan on letting Bug believe in Santa. I think there is joy and whimsy to be had in celebrating the holiday with Santa. I'm really excited to make reindeer food, write out his letters to Santa and tell him stories about the elf who watches him all year long to tell Santa how he behaves.
I know that when the time comes to explain that Santa is not a real human, but more of a feeling and spirit, he won't have hard feelings of feel that he has been lied to.
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My kid(s) will believe in anything that bestows presents on them. Santa and/or the easter bunny is fine because no one turns down a good present! Am I going to lie about it...nah especially since my mom always gave presents from "Santa" and we all knew she wrapped them in the spare room from the paper on the table and hid them in the bottom drawer.
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What do you mean Santa's not real?!?!?! I still make my parent's wait until X-mas eve night to put the presents under the tree (if we visit for X-mas). I LOVE all the little kid traditions! I'm totally going to do that for my LO as well. Heck my mom still hides my Easter basket too!
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Yes, they definitely will believe in Santa. I don't know how he'll get into our house since we don't have a fireplace, but I love the magic that Santa brings to Christmas. They will do what we did, leave cookies, milk and a carrot for Rudolph.
That being said, I hope they figure it out on their own and don't find out about Santa the way I did. I remember how devastated i was in elementary school when some bully told me I was a baby and there was no such thing as Santa.
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Definitely! We used to leave Coke and Cookies for Santa, after my dad suggested that Santa might get tired of milk at every house
by the time I was old enough to be suspicious, I had to keep my mouth shut for my younger brother anyway. With a few kids, I figure we'll be able to keep the magic alive for awhile!
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We'll definitely lead our kids to believe in Santa, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny, but I suspect they'll learn the truth a lot younger than we did.
I believe fostering imagination through fantasy is a great idea! -
Yes we will. I don't remember believing in Santa Clause but DH did. But we are also Christian so we will teach her the true meaning of Christmas. It's unreasonable for a big fat man to run around giving everyone gifts on Jesus's birthday right? lol
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We don't do Santa, and infact are moving away from the traditional "Christmas" and starting this year to celebrate Hanukkah! =) (we're not Jewish, we're Christian)
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Runsyellowlites--Out of curiousity, if you're Christian, why are you moving away from Christmas and celebrating Hanukkah? The only other people I know who celebrate Hanukkah are actually Jewish...
ETA: And to answer the original question...no.
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Heck yes! They're going to believe in the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, elves and gnomes too. I want to encourage their imagination, I think it's important - up to a certain extent.
I also want to continue celebrating various cultural occasions as well, such as Lunar New Year, Thanksgiving (they don't have that where I live) and whatever other days we want to sit around in the park or have a mini feast at home.
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Definitely he will believe in santa. I believed in Santa, the tooth fairy, the easter bunny, etc as a child and i really looked forward to it. So i want my son to enjoy the joys of that as a child.
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@redredrose Most "Christian" holidays aren't actually in/celebrated like the Bible says. So, after learning some things we've decided that we'd like to get back to the Bible for our traditions & celebrations... which includes Hanukkah and other things that were actually celebrated in the New Testament by the original 1st century church. =)
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@runsyellowlights: I am very interested to hear more about how you plan to celebrate Hannukah. I have toyed with the idea of inviting some Jewish friends over at that time when our son is older, but I haven't worked it out fully in my mind.
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@looch So as to not get too off on the thread I took advantage of the awesome "wall" and posted there on yours! =)
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Most definitely! Santa was such a magical part of Christmas for me as a child and I want my children to be able to experience the same.
I believed in Santa until a bit older than most (I think it was until about 2nd or 3rd grade). The gig was up when I recognized my mom's handwriting on the tags of the presents from Santa. She started printing them on the computer after that so my younger siblings wouldn't be able to do the same.
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I dont think so, I want my kids to understand that christmas is about the birth of Jesus rather than a fictional character.
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@Runsyellowlites: Are your kids going to believe in Hanukkah Harry then?
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Yeah, I think so. Up until a certain point though. I don't know what age. I think it's good motivation for them to be good for Santa.
Not big on the whole gift giving part though. I hope they don't expect gifts.
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Oh yes! Santa was exciting and fun and something to look forward to over the holidays. A bit of a magical fantasy! I loved santa and despite the gift giving I always knew that wasn't the important part of christmas, it was being with family.
I love Santa.
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Definitely. I don't remember being especially crushed when I found out he wasn't real and I think that Santa really adds a magical spirit around the holidays.
We'll probably also do the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.
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@zippylef: haha... i wasn't crushed either, in fact I thought I was a really good spy/secret agent for figuring it out without my parents knowing.
Me: 1
Parents: 0 -
I'm Jewish
But I think we might still tell our kids there's a santa so they don't blow it for others. My parents always told us there was santa, and we got one present on Christmas b/c we were good kids. I really don't want my kid to be the one to spoil it for someone else.
by the time I was old enough to be suspicious, I had to keep my mouth shut for my younger brother anyway. With a few kids, I figure we'll be able to keep the magic alive for awhile!
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