Santa... Real or Not?

[SillyMoo1983]

But Santa is real isn't he??! It's all part of the magic of Christmas to me. I love Santa as will my daugter. I will keep the magic up as long as possible as I used to get so excited on Christmas eve knowing that Santa would come and eat the mince pie I'd left for him. I think Santa is part of childhood and I can't imagine having a childhood without him. I will also be taking her to the Christmas carol service as that is something I've always done. She will go to a C of E school and learn all about it.

 

[mommy0629]

I had the same dilema with myself when I was pregnant with DS. I did decide to let him believe in Santa and when he finally got the concept (I guess around age 2 or so?) it was soooo cute to see that befief in magic on his little face when we tucked him into bed and told him Santa was coming etc.

From age 3 to about 5 or so he LOVED trains, I mean my child was obsessed with all things trains (aww, I miss those days, it was so cute ) anyway, ever see the movie the Polar Express? LOVE it and so did ds obviously. That movie and the main story line of the boy not believing and then he does by the end says it all for me(if you've never seen this movie, you need too, it's fantastic), it's just magical and I think it's good for kids to have that.

Now, having said that about Santa (byw, ds is 7 and still believes, this is probably the last year though since he wants pretty much all video games and asked me how the Elves could possibly make them ) that's the only mythical, holiday character he believes in.

When he lost his first tooth, we put it under his pillow, explained tooth fairy etc. I hear him crying in his room a bit later - he was all distraught because he was freaked out that he wouldn't be asleep when she came and what if she woke him up when she moved his pillow and he saw her, it would scare him. Well, I told my poor baby the truth right then and there (and proceeded to give him $20 out of guilt )

The Easter bunny we don't do because of faith reasons. We actually call Easter "Reserection Day" and he knows the Easter basket is from us. Not that Christmas isn't a faith based holiday for us, he does understand the "true" meaning of it and we sing happy birthday to Jesus on Christmas morning, but Christmas almost has a double meaning to me and the magic of Santa just adds to excitement.

It boils down to that it's a personal desission. I took him to see "Rise of The Guardians" yesterday (great movie btw ) and he didn't say a thing to me about Santa being real and the easter bunny and tooth fairy etc. not, so it's not as big of a deal to them I think as we make it out to be.

I do think kids need fantasy in their lives, heck I think all adults do too. I know I feel better when I get lost in a good fiction novel and am one of those obsessed with Twilight LOL. Why? Because it's good for us to mentally "escape" from the world sometimes and for kids I feel like they learn how to do that by things like believing in Santa.

Ok, I'm done now lol

 

[cmarie33]

Not read everyone's posts but I love the magic of Christmas and wish I was young again so I could believe in Santa; I think a tiny part of me still does! to each their own though xx

 

[bambeano]

I will be telling my LO that Santa is real, I used to love leaving out mince pies and writing christmas lists when I was little. Also I think there is always a risk that if your child is told Santa is not real or lead to believe he is not real then they may tell the other kids at school which could spoil it for them.

 

[hayz_baby]

One year I believed in Father Christmas the next year I didn't.. I grew out of it rather then the latter. I have never met anyone who has said that finding out he didn't exist absolutely destroyed them. I also always remember me and my brother sitting at the top of the stairs looking through the bannister wondering if he showed or not and getting all excited when we saw presents. It's never really caused any major to alot of children.

 

[mellfckimpton]

My son believes in santa and gets more excited about christmas than he does his birthday and i think the reason for that is because he does believe in santa and it makes it more magical x

 

[tina3747]

My 13 yr old stopped believing 2 yrs ago... Christmas Eve isn't as special now... I've so many beautiful memories of leaving carrots, milk, cadburys heroes and a Stella artois out before bedtime. Scattering magical fairy dust so santa knows where to find us... Makes me well up a little as it was such a special time. Now I just get a list!

I get to go it all again soon with the LO, can't wait!!

 

[LittleBoo]

I've no choice in the matter, Mum jumped on me the minute I walked into her house after seeing a link I posted about someone who doesn't do Santa and came close to threatening me so Santa it is!

 

[PitaKat]

We tell the legend of st Nicholas and how that evolved into the story of Santa BUT we tell them it's make believe. They still write letter to Santa and leave carrots for the reindeer but they know we are playing a game. Hasn't taken the magic out one but and I'm not lying to them. My humble opinion is that a lie is a lie even if the intent is to make someone feel good. It's also not the point of the season for us. We also talk about Jesus and the good deeds he did for others and make the season about volunteering and helping others. I want them to remember that more than anything. That to me is the true magic of christmas.

This is what my parents did with my siblings and I, and how I plan to proceed with my son. Santa was a game, pretend. We'd write letters and leave out milk and cookies. We'd talk about the real St. Nicholas. But we knew that our gifts came from our parents. Jesus is the main focus of our Christmas, but Santa is still a part of the holiday

 

[lovemyDD]

It's okey not to tell Santa is real because in real life our children's Santa is "US" the parents--
When we were little,. we still believe there is Santa even though we know that it was our parents filling out the socks lol...My younger ones even pretends to be sleeping to caught them filling the socks ...lol

 

[rwhite]

We're doing Santa. I loved Santa as a kid, it made Christmas just that bit more special.

OH wasn't that keen on the idea and said we'd be lying to our son, but I think that's a ridiculous thing to say. It's all in good fun, not like a bad lie, not that I even consider it really lying anyway. It's playing pretend.

 

[kassiaethne]

>.> whatcha all talking bout santa is totally real....


lol personally if you both were on the same page about telling her hes not real then it wouldnt matter, but if its not harmful to her, and will make your husband happy, i would just go with it. It isnt hurting her to have the magic for a few years and it will make your hubby happy, dont see the point in pushing it to just be right....let em have a little fun. Would be like sitting down and telling em their doll play isnt real they arent going to talk back so why bother playing with dolls?

 

[Samiam03]

We are doing Santa...that was one of my favorite memories as a kid...the absolute awe I had with Santa! To this day, tbh, I still am in awe of the figure! I even worked as an elf in high school and found so much joy talking to the man who played Santa...they never told us his real name so even working with him I was left with so much mystery.

When I found out Santa wasn't real...I actually wasn't upset at all. I accepted it and moved on with my life.

I'm actually the only one I know who is doing Santa...I find it so sad! My friends' logic is that he takes away from Jesus but I don't believe that at all! It only takes away if you let it take away.

 

[beanzz]

Is good to get children's imaginations going. Why would you make your child miss out on all the excitement, they'll just spoil it for other children aswel by saying stuff like "my mummy said Santa isn't real, he doesn't give us presents"

Just let children have fun.

 

[ChristinaG]

we never REALLY believed in Santa, but we all kinda 'played along'...mom would put out extra presents on xmas eve, and my brother and I would pretend we could hear sleigh bells!! lol

We're a christian family and really want to put emphasis on our beliefs of the holiday, but we'd love to see Simon's wide eyes christmas morning when 'santa' came, but I don't know if we will go out of our way to make him believe

 

[ChimChims]

I am noticing a pattern of "I wish I was still young and had that magic." Am I wrong to think that each time it is said, it is proof again that Christmas held magic, or at least more magic, when you are young? I'm still a big bunch of pre-Christmas-freak-out happiness every single year. It never had to go away. I love for people to do their own thing, but in reading these to see if we really are missing something, I'm only becoming more certain that I want my girls to have special Christmases that don't lose something with the discovery that Santa is just a story.

No judgment there, by the way. Just an honest expression of what hit me reading all of these. For those who do equate santa to extra happiness, by all means, keep up the ruse as long as you possibly can.

 

[AllyTiel]

I really love the idea and magic of Santa. My mom never told us he was real but we left out cookies and milk and we pretended Santa brought the presents. My parents would put them under the tree after we went to bed on Christmas Eve. I remember one year my dad went stomping on the roof and ho ho hoing. We knew it was him but it was so fun to pretend! I want to kind of pretend with K too but I don't feel like I can tell her Santa is real, especially since we are Christians and will be telling her all about Jesus and God. And of course I will make most important the real reason for the season, which is Jesus' birth.
I don't want her to find out one day that I was not telling the truth about Santa, and then her questioning whether God is real. Thats the only problem I have.
I do prefer kids writing lists to Santa than the alternative such as I saw in Target today. Some child begging her mom for a toy to go in her stocking. I can just imagine all December, "mommy i want i want it want!" lol.

 

[CorrineW]

I figured out Santa was not real when me and my sister got coal for Christmas. I didn't believe Santa would do that to a child even if they were bad. Not to mention I knew there was a big pile of coal in our basement. I cried because I got coal not because Santa wasn't real. I even stayed up all night one year to confirm it. I believe that Santa is a crucial part of Christmas as well as the birth of Jesus. I'm not super religious but I want my daughter to know both. When she is old enough she will be able to follow what she wants.

 

[rjm09]

Santa has nothing to do with the true meaning of christmas, therefore is not a part of our holiday, and tradition.

Not gonna bother me one bit if my son tells his schoolmates that he doesn't exist. It's not his fault those kids parents lied to them. Pretty crappy thing to do imo just for the sake of "christmas magic".

 

[kassiaethne]

Santa has nothing to do with the true meaning of christmas, therefore is not a part of our holiday, and tradition.

Not gonna bother me one bit if my son tells his schoolmates that he doesn't exist. It's not his fault those kids parents lied to them. Pretty crappy thing to do imo just for the sake of "christmas magic".

Neither is jesus....it was originally a pagan holiday adapted by christians to get them to convert easier....bet you wouldnt want a kid telling yours that...that they are celebrating a pagan religion and that the jesus wasnt even born anywhere near christmas....would hope you would raise your child to respect others beliefs including others ideas if christmas....