Santa......

[Bex84]

We are doing father Christmas, I loved it as a child and was not upset when found out. With my older lo haven't heavily gone into it but we have watched lots of Christmas films and she knows who he is and also spoken about what she wants. Our tradition is to go to local garden centre for Santa's grotto but my lo is more excited about seeing the real reindeer than father Christmas lol. We don't do the naughty list and I don't like idea of elf on shelf

 

[happysaurus]

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[RachA]

We do Santa. I hadn't heard of the elf thing but to me that seems a bit weird.

My 7 year old has questioned this year about if he's real or not. I threw the question back at him to see what he thought. He'd like him to be real but I think school friends are questioning it too do he's getting messages from school that he's not real. If I'd said to him that no he really didn't exist then he'd be fine with that. He is an extremely sensitive boy and yet it really wouldn't affect him.
At present I don't know how much Esther understands so we 'll carry on.
I think that children just get to a point where it just doesn't make sense anymore. I came from a family where Santa was a big thing along with believing in God. When we found out Santa wasn't real we just accepted it and it didn't change our belief in God so to me you can teach about Santa without it being a big deal when they discover he's not real.

 

[Marie000]

I didn't grow up with Santa simply because my parents didn't have a lot of money and didn't want us wondering why Santa got so many more things for other kids that he did for us. As a result of not having grown up with Santa, I really don't like the idea of it or the values it teaches, so we won't be doing Santa. I never felt left out and my mom talked to my sisters and me about respecting the way other people did things ( ie, don't tell them he isn't real). I remember pretending to believe in Santa on multiple occasions for the sake of other kids.

That is my one problem with the Santa thing.
I will be doing the Santa thing while my lo is little, but I think by the time she is old enough to see that some children get more than others, that will be the end of it for us. Either that or we will tell her that some parents with more money give more gifts in addition to those from Santa.
At her age, she doesn't know the value of things, so we could just get her a 1$ present from Santa and she'd be happy.

I think we did Santa when I was young, but I don't remember really believing in it. By the time I was 5-6, it was already just a fun story for me.

 

[RachA]

I didn't grow up with Santa simply because my parents didn't have a lot of money and didn't want us wondering why Santa got so many more things for other kids that he did for us. As a result of not having grown up with Santa, I really don't like the idea of it or the values it teaches, so we won't be doing Santa. I never felt left out and my mom talked to my sisters and me about respecting the way other people did things ( ie, don't tell them he isn't real). I remember pretending to believe in Santa on multiple occasions for the sake of other kids.

That is my one problem with the Santa thing.
I will be doing the Santa thing while my lo is little, but I think by the time she is old enough to see that some children get more than others, that will be the end of it for us. Either that or we will tell her that some parents with more money give more gifts in addition to those from Santa.
At her age, she doesn't know the value of things, so we could just get her a 1$ present from Santa and she'd be happy.

I think we did Santa when I was young, but I don't remember really believing in it. By the time I was 5-6, it was already just a fun story for me.

I think that's overthinking it a bit really. My friends always got way more than us and it honestly never bothered us. Now it's my son that gets a lot less than his friends and again it really doesn't bother him at all - i'd say that all his friends get a lot more from what he's told me and he's told me that he's just grateful for the little that he does get. It's all about what you teach them is important. Even if you don't do the Santa thing the chances are other children are going to get a lot more than they do therefore you are still going to have the issue that they get more.

 

[ruby09]

We will be doing the santa thing. I remember it being so exciting as a kid and just adds a bit of fun to the holiday. I found out about santa long before my parents admitted he wasn't real, but I kept pretending that I believed until I was like 12 because they were having so much fun with it.

Elf on the shelf... is just so creepy though! It's like something I would have nightmares about. The toy itself just scares the crap out of me.

 

[ruby09]

The elf is also supposed to do mischievous things and bring gifts. Its not supposed to be creepy or threatening, its additional magic. Its just a lot of effort and money fore i cant manage.

It's not the concept that creeps me out, really, so much as the design of the face. He looks more like the kind of doll that'd star in a slasher film to me.

And like you, I can't manage to put in that much effort/money on on thing for christmas. There's plenty of other holiday activities that can be done leading up to the big day.

Have you seen the movie Dead Silence about that creepy ventriloquist doll? That's what the elf reminds me of, lol. So no, we will not ever get one of those creepy things.

Exactly this, except it makes me think of the movie Child's Play.

 

[Marie000]

I didn't grow up with Santa simply because my parents didn't have a lot of money and didn't want us wondering why Santa got so many more things for other kids that he did for us. As a result of not having grown up with Santa, I really don't like the idea of it or the values it teaches, so we won't be doing Santa. I never felt left out and my mom talked to my sisters and me about respecting the way other people did things ( ie, don't tell them he isn't real). I remember pretending to believe in Santa on multiple occasions for the sake of other kids.

That is my one problem with the Santa thing.
I will be doing the Santa thing while my lo is little, but I think by the time she is old enough to see that some children get more than others, that will be the end of it for us. Either that or we will tell her that some parents with more money give more gifts in addition to those from Santa.
At her age, she doesn't know the value of things, so we could just get her a 1$ present from Santa and she'd be happy.

I think we did Santa when I was young, but I don't remember really believing in it. By the time I was 5-6, it was already just a fun story for me.

I think that's overthinking it a bit really. My friends always got way more than us and it honestly never bothered us. Now it's my son that gets a lot less than his friends and again it really doesn't bother him at all - i'd say that all his friends get a lot more from what he's told me and he's told me that he's just grateful for the little that he does get. It's all about what you teach them is important. Even if you don't do the Santa thing the chances are other children are going to get a lot more than they do therefore you are still going to have the issue that they get more.

You might be right. I will wait and see, really. I am just sensitive about these things because I was flat broke last year and if my lo had been old enough to understand, I would have hated to have to explain to her why Santa didn't get her more presents. I fear ever having to live that kind of Christmas again. My OH remembers having one Christmas as a kid where all he got was one little trinket from the discount store. Luckily he was too old to believe in Santa then.
But I guess kids are more resilient than we give them credit for.

 

[justmeinlove]

Yes to Santa and when she works it out, we'll explain that for as long as you believe, the magic is real and ask if we can still keep the magic.

]

Aaaaargh. I don't know if that's coming over wrong but that sounds like the worst emotional manipulation ever. What child is going to feel ok to go 'no! No magic!' when it's put like that? :-\

 

[justmeinlove]

Definitely doing it. Mind you, the best memory I have I think was when I started to be suspicious and checked the half eaten carrot on Christmas morning. As far as I could tell, it wasn't human bite or dog bite...i could never quite discount that maybe it was a reindeer after alll...!

Oh and seeing him (presumably a parent in red) sneaking back out of my bedroom one night and feeling the presents in my pillowcase. So exciting! Am excited now!!!