What have you taught your children about Santa Claus?
What do they believe about him?
(Not always the same thing.)
If your kids are older, when/how did they learn differently?
What was their reaction?
Is believing in Santa a critical part of Christmas magic?
How old were you when you learned the truth?
Are you happy with the way you found out?
Do you wish your parents had done something differently?
What do they believe about him?
(Not always the same thing.)
If your kids are older, when/how did they learn differently?
What was their reaction?
Is believing in Santa a critical part of Christmas magic?
How old were you when you learned the truth?
Are you happy with the way you found out?
Do you wish your parents had done something differently?
16 comments:
I honestly don't remember how I found out. Probably from a classmate.
I'm a big believer that you let kids believe in Santa as long as possible. But my oldest (now 10) thinks it's a lie to tell kids Santa is real. So you just gotta go kid by kid.
I had to have the 'Santa talk' with my 10 year old this year when she kept telling her six year old brother that Mom and Dad do the presents. My parents thought I believed until I was in High School. Funny that they would go along with it, but I knew if I said anything, no presents for me! My mom is a die-hard Santa fan.
Don't remember how I found out. We have "played" Santa with all of our kids...the 2 little ones still believe. He helps make things "magical" for the little ones...I love the memories I have of thinking Santa was coming.
My kids are all still little and believe. KJ is 8 and she's starting to question. but only to the point that she wants to sleep on the couch and catch Santa in the act.
I don't remember when I stopped believing. I honestly a part of me never stopped believing. My Mom was always really good at playing the part. I remember coming home from college and she still insisted that there was a Santa claus.
So, I try to use her enthusiasm about it.
Well, Superman will remember that we taught him that Santa was real as long as you believe in him. As soon as you stop, he stops, too. Of course, then you don't get a gift from him. Maybe that's why at 27 he still believes? As for me, I had two older brothers that couldn't wait to spoil it for me, so I was very young.
My kids know that Santa only brings a few gifts and that Moms and Dads buy the rest. I didn't start off telling them that but as they've gotten older we came up with that one.
I think it makes the transition easier for the kids if they think he only brings some stuff. It also helps them understand the disparity at Christmas with some kids in their classes getting more/less than them. We didn't do it until they were school-aged though.
amber loney told me when i was eight! i still remember it. i even remember being in her basement talking about it. it was obviously quite traumatic, but i never told my mom and dad i knew. i didn't want to ruin it for my little brother.
The other day Spiderman and hulk were fighting and I said its important that we be nice. Its what Jesus wants us to do. He responded with, And santa wants us to be nice so he can bring us presents. So when he learns that santa is just an imaginary tool to manipulate him into doing what I say, what will he think about Jesus? I think honesty that Santa is pretend but represents soemthign special. And that we can all take turns being santa, like people take turns as the dread pirate roberts.
Anyway, the real reason I commented, for all you superbloggers heres a link http://onlinespielen.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/realityworstgame.jpg
-SUperman
Superman -- I'll be addressing the issues within our home in the next day or two. And you're right: reality is much harder than non-reality!
This is a harder question than it should be, in my opinion.
I don't remember how I found out. I think I just figured it out, I don't think my parents told me one way or another. But in high school I started to help fill stockings and such.
I tell my kids there is a Santa Claus. He only brings them one gift. I think it would be much harder to find out the truth if you believed it was Santa that brought *everything.* I try not to use Santa as a reason to be good, but I admit to having done it in the past. I can see the problems that would cause.
I know that I have met one or two mothers who have said their children don't know what to believe about God/Jesus once they find out about Santa, so that is definitely upsetting. However, I think the vast majority of children do just fine with it. It's important to distinguish the difference between a story and a lie. Santa Claus is a story, based in fact. A tradition we carry on to honor Jesus Christ. It's sad that the commercialism has made it more difficult to do this, but Santa Claus is definitely not a lie.
Phewsh! Sorry! That was long....guess I have a lot to say on the matter.
It's been so long, I can't remember any of it. My own experience or my kids. I just remember that they were amazed that we actually gave them so much. It felt good to finally get some credit. : )
My parents sat us down when we were fairly young. I was probably six. They told us about Santa, the Easter bunny... it didn't traumatize me too much. "Santa" still came and we still pretended, though. I still do. If I don't believe, he doesn't come.
In my family, the kids still believe in Santa. We don't really talk about him much, but he's kind of hard to avoid nowadays. I really want to spill the beans, but the ONLY reason I won't is I'm afraid Kate will tell her cousins and friends. Should I care? Probably not, but I do. We've been trying really hard to focus on Christ this year. We want her to know we celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, not that Christ happened to be born on Christmas. That can be confusing to a 4 year old.
I don't remember when or how I found out. But I think kids should be allowed to be kids and believe in that Christmas magic. Just as long as the main focas is on Christ. We don't talk about Santa or presents a lot. But they still get excited about it all of course. I've talked about what Santa truly represents and why he exists.
I think if they ask if he is real then I say be honest about it. But until then, let them believe!
So, I have quite the history. My parents were not good at awkward situations. Revealing the fact that Santa was not real is included in that.
After they clumsily informed me, I was disappointed, but most of all I felt deceived. I felt like they had been lying to me for years. We wrote letters to Santa. We left him cookies. I felt so betrayed. How could they possibly encourage that, when all the while he wasn't real? So I pretty much decided right then that I wouldn't do that with my kids.
So while I don't deny the existence, we don't leave Santa cookies. I have never taken my kids to see him. If he happens to be at a ward party, we will go see him. We don't write letters to him. We don't coordinate wrapping paper. We don't tell them to be good so Santa will come. And when my children ask who gave them a specific present, I tell them.
I don't know. Maybe it destroys a little bit of the magic of Christmas. But I cannot stand the thought that my children will feel like I did, that their parents lied to them. So, this is my solution.
I'm going to take up a lot of space for a minute b/c I happen to really like this subject. And I too think that Santa makes Christmas just that much more magical.
I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I believed for a looooong time. I wasn't too disappointed when I found out the truth and I think that's b/c my parents told me the history of Santa.
I've since learned a little more from the history channel ;) Although I may not get all the facts right: In a nut-shell (In case you don't know this), there was once a man (I can't remember where he lived, but did know that at one point) who around Christmas time made a habit of anonymously visiting the homes of needy families and leaving them gifts and money and things. On at least one occasion he even hid coins in a pair of socks that were drying on the fireplace. Others liked the idea and began doing it too (acting in his name, if you will) and carrying on the tradition. So while the real Santa is no longer alive today, there are many others who are acting in the name of Santa to bring joy to the lives of others.
You could use this story with your kids from the get-go and just conveniently leave out the fact that you happen to be their Santa. Or you could use this when they're older and come asking the truth.
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