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Santa is real in our house. Santa made Christmas so magical and I was not at all traumatized when I learned my parents were Santa.

I also see no problem with "lying to my kids." I find it hard to believe that there are parents who are never going to lie to their kids.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I think wanting the focus to be on the religious aspect, and wanting the holiday to be more meaningful, is different than not wanting Santa JUST for the reason that it would be "lying" to your child.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime:

I like the imagination side of Santa so we'll be telling the stories and try to make it magical. I set up leprechaun traps in my backyard and even neighbor kids who made fun of it got into it, I always had a pretty wild imagination and I love that part of childhood. DH says he never remembers believing in Santa so we're not going to force her or be super adamant but we're story tellers so we'll still tell lots of stories when she doesn't believe.

Growing up in a Buddhist home, my family didn't really know the story behind Santa. They knew about Christmas honoring the birth of Christ because we were visited by countless missionaries (who ended up being some of our dearest family friends) but Santa was never explained to us. When I was 5 (kindergarten), after everyone was asleep, I set out cookies and milk for Santa by the window because we didn't have a fireplace. I woke up Christmas morning to find it untouched and no presents arrived either. In my young mind, I concluded that Santa only visited Caucasian kids so I was really sad. Then my parents tried to comfort me by saying Santa only visits very ill kids and that I am healthy so I should be thankful. So basically I thought Santa was real but only for certain kids.

I will definitely have Santa incorporated for my baby for a few years just so she can have that experience. The truth will come out anyway so it will be fun while it lasts. We did it for our niece and nephew who lived with us and seeing their excitement was worth it.

I will have no problem lying to my kid. I just think I have a different take on Santa since I didn't grow up believing in him. It's funny that it's a big deal to people when other people choose to not have "real" Santa. Not everyone grew up with Santa and our lives were great! Our choice to not have Santa be real has nothing to do with lying. Santa's going to be in the realm of Big Bird and The Little Mermaid. I think Santa is magical but that you don't necessarily have to believe that he is really going to climb down your chimney to bring you toys if you've been naughty or nice.

I think my parents might have sort of half-assed the Santa thing in our house... The presents were always labeled as being from my parents or family friends or whoever, but I think they might have put one under the tree from Santa? When I was around 5 or 6 I noticed that the handwriting was my dad's, and he tried to tell me that Santa got him to wrap the present, but I was like ..no, the present is actually from you. I didn't care at all, I really don't think they put much effort into making Santa believable before that year either.

Christmas has always been my absolute favourite day of the year in any case, from when I was a tiny child up until now. In our house Santa will be a fictional character, like the mascot of Christmas or something, but I really don't think that will spoil the magic for our kids.