Will you tell your kids that Santa Claus is real?

I'm Jewish...

 

I probably will. Waiting for Santa to arrive, and then seeing what he had filled my stocking with, brought a lot of joy to me during my childhood Christmases. I wouldn't want to take that away from my kids.

 

I don't really know how to vote for this pole. True, I don't want my kids to feel entitled or take the world as a whole for granted, so I wouldn't want to make them think Santa is real. But I also don't want them to lose out on the magic of childhood. And that includes Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the power of imagination. I think it'll be summat I'll decide with my partner when we get to the point where we have kids. (which is a long way off, mind you)

 

Depends on the child I guess. If they enjoy fantasy then I don't see how it will effect them negatively. It certainly didn't effect me. I would allow my children to believe in fairies, dragons, and orcs. So I don't see Santa Clause being much different expect for the fact I would be feeding it.

Besides making cookies for santa, staying up to try and catch him etc was very enjoyable as a child. By the time I learned he wasn't real I pretty much already figured it out and wasn't sad or anything.

 

I voted other because I'm torn. I agree that kids shouldn't feel entitled, but I also want to instill in my kids a sense of wonder and mystery about the world. I'd like for them to have a strong sense of imagination, and I worry that stating at such an early age, "This is how the world really works" while their friends are told tales of Santa and the Easter Bunny would stunt that imagination in a way.

 

Yeah, this is something I'm on the fence about.

But most likely would do the Santa thing- doubt it harmed me in the long run- but if my kids had questions, doubted the existence of Santa, I'd let them come to their own conclusions. Wouldn't be the kind of dad who'd do crazy shit just to keep up appearances. If little Benjamin decides he doesn't believe in Santa, little Benjamin gets to figure out what the jig is.

I think I had some idea Santa wasn't real by age nine (?) but I was something of an agnostic in that regard- I decided to keep believing in Santa because I didn't want to risk possibly knowing he was real and thus cutting off the present supply. :lol: And hey, it was fun, trying to imagine how Santa could actually be possible as a kid.

 

If I'm gonna lie to my kids, I'm going to come up with something a bit more interesting than Santa!

Thankfully I won't have to since I'm not going to have any.

 

I will, It makes me happy seeing kids get so excited for the holidays.

 

I will. I found it to be very enjoyable growing up and I believed for a rather long time too. Of course my Dad didn't help matters considering he loos like Santa and one Christmas I was rather sick and sleeping on the couch and I saw my Dad and I couldn't tell the difference. He gave me a stuffed Dalmatian and I held on to that for years believing that it was truly Santa who gave it to me.

 

I, in a sense, still believe in Santa Claus, but I was brought up with a different view of who Santa Claus is. When I was little, I believed in the Santa Claus that we all know, the red suit, white-bearded, cookie-eating one that all kids love. But like all kids, I grew up and figured out that there wasn't some guy who would go down your chimney and leaves you a bunch of goodies. When I asked my mother for confirmation, I expected her to come clean, but I got a different answer...

She said "Yes, a chubby man doesn't come down our chimney, leave presents, and raid our cookies and milk, but Santa Claus does exist. The whole ideal behind the Santa Claus character was someone that brings cheer and happiness to people. To help someone in need, to show kindness, and to bring joy to someone's life. So yes Santa Claus does exist, he's the person who bought you that toy, he's the person volunteering at a shelter, she's the person who invited that in need friend to dinner, and they are the people who love. Everyone is Santa Claus."

Now of course most of that flew over my head at that age, but it eventually sunk in and it's what I'm going to do with my kids. It is sad nowadays since Christmas has become so commercialized and that everyone is more focused on what they getting. I honestly think that's why mom still signs some of the gifts "From: Santa" to try to keep the real Santa Claus alive.

So yeah, I picked other.

 

i put other.

i remember as a kid i was around 13 when my parents decided to tell me santa wasnt real i felt utterly awful. i think it should stop around age 9-10 becuase at 13 i had a handle on my emotions a little more than a young child would so i felt betrayed and awful that they lied, more like a how could they lie to me for all these years. i would of prefered they had told me the truth from day one, but alas i was older so i could feel like that but if i was younger i woldnt of thought that i would of just been sad. it made me lose trust in my parents for a long time haha. i was the very last of my friends to ever find out i think they all knew around age 10. dont keep the 'magic' going for as long as possible becuase kids will understand more and more about feelings e.t.c as they get older i think. well it was the case for me anyway lol.

but if i ever have kids i will make them believe santa is real until age 10 probably, but i want to foster so i guess santa will be even more a special thing for disadvantaged kids

 

No. They will get presents on the 21st, and they will be from me (and my partner if I have one).

 

Wait. Are you guys saying Santa isn't real :eek: :icon_redf :tears:

 

I really don't know if I'll end up with kids or not. Right now, I don't want kids but that could change.

I would tell them it was Santa.

Here's what happened:

My sister and I got bikes when I was 8 and she was 6. My dad had folded up the box of the bike and shoved it down into the recycle, but I found it. Then I went into the garage and noticed the instructions for putting my bike together. When I confronted my mom about it, she told me that Santa wasn't a physical being but that he was a spirit. Santa was the spirit of Christmas giving and holiday cheer, and that even though he wasn't real you could still believe in him and still be happy to get presents from Santa (because it means someone loves you and cared enough to get or make you a gift). I was really sad, but my sister hadn't put the pieces together so I stayed quiet. That night I realized the tooth fairy and Easter bunny weren't real either. My sister had a friend who told her one day that she was dumb for still believing in Santa. She came homr crying, and my mom told her the same thing she told me. She was sad, but she understood like I did that the tradition and spirit of Christmas is more important then staying up late and trying to catch Santa. She was upset that my mom had eaten the milk and cookies withouy sharing. I was upset that I put glitter and oats on the roof for no reason.

I still address gifts from "Santa" because I believe it's one of the things that brings THE most joy to kids on Christmas. As an adult I understand everything about hard work and the religious side to Christmas and Easter, but as a 5 year old I don't think it's as critical as some people think.

As a side note, my mom said I used to give her quite the scare because when I was 4 or so, I started to tell her "Mommy, that Santa had gold glasses and the one at the Christmas Tree Shop had silver glasses! Why'd he change them?" hahaha She told me that Santa needed helpers to help him visit all the children, and that his magic to travel the world and fit down the chimney only worked well on Christmas. The things kids will believe! I tell ya 'hwhat.

 

I would, with one caveat in that Santa Claus isn't a Belgian thing. We do have Sinterklaas, a kindly old Bishop, who comes on the 6th of December.
(As you can guess, the names are related. After the reformation, Sinterklaas was considered a bit too specifically Catholic in many parts of the world, so he got assimilated into Christmas over time)

Still, I have nothing but good memories of Sinterklaas when I was young. It was a magical morning every year, and whenever I see young children this time of year I am still a bit jealous. The whole story and atmosphere was as much part of the gift as the actual presents themselves. And when I found out eventually, I was even more in awe of my parents for going through all of this effort without even getting thanks directed at themselves.

So, with that experience in the back of my mind, it would almost feel mean not to gift my kids with a bit of magical mystery pageant. They'll have years upon years later to live in the real world anyways.

 

In spain, where I used to live, they didn't get santa either, but 'Los Reyes Magos', the three kings/wise men, who come on the night of the 5th of january. My parents, being english, never gave me presents then, but did sometimes take me out to this festival parade thing, where there'd be loads of floats driving through the town, throwing sweets at kids. I think in spanish families, they worked in much the same way as santa, leaving presents for the kids to find in the morning.

 

My daughter is two and I work with children. What I love about spending my life with children is their wonderment, their palpable excitement at the mundane and the joy they can get from the smallest things.

While I agree that I don't want my child to have a sense of entitlement, I feel that is down to how I approach the notion of Father Christmas and not the fictitious character itself. I want my child to feel the magic and excitement I grew up with, and if that is by anticipation a fat, hairy man dressed in red then so be it.

Simply, I want my little girl to be happy.

 

This thread made me laugh so hard