Telling kids Santa is real

[Elgama]

Of course he's not! He's Saint Nicolas...the jolly old elf with his eight tiny renideer..Dasher and Dancer and....ummm...the other 6. And Rudolph of course. And he lives at the North Pole. And he eats mince pies and drinks beer - not Coca Cola! (I know because we always used to leave a pint out for him on Christmas eve, and it was always gone in the morning, and no it wasn't my Dad who drank it. So there!)

if you had asked my Gran he was a skinny bloke that often wore Green - Coca Cola were the ones that pushed the red he had appeared occasionally red before that but it wasn't set in stone in the UK

and in Australia his sleigh is pulled by 6 White Kangaroos

[Jamie123]

if you had asked my Gran he was a skinny bloke that often wore Green - Coca Cola were the ones that pushed the red he had appeared occasionally red before that but it wasn't set in stone in the UK

That's interesting - my mother says she remembers Santa was sometimes drawn in green when she was a little girl.

and in Australia his sleigh is pulled by 6 White Kangaroos

And if you read Laura Ingalls Wilder (Mr. Edwards meets Santa Claus in Little House on the Prairie) Santa drove a donkey cart south of the snow line where his sleigh wouldn't work.

(Though why should this have been a problem with flying reindeer? Hmmmm...)

[stormwitch]

Santa lives...! The day after tomorrow I will have to go over to our neighbors and be Santa for their kids (I'm female, yes, but a pillow, false beard and a deep voice will do it, at least for the smaller ones!). So will anybody tell me, I am not alive?

As mentioned before: St. Nikolaus, Bishop of Myra was probably a real person and has a beautiful story, which should be common knowledge.

Please, tell your childen about Santa, let him be real for a while. Childhood is ful of wonder, magic and fairy tale, and that makes it that wonderful! Don't you sometimes wish to be a child again? I'd love to be able to believe in tooth fairies, Santa, Easter bunny again, now and then. It's a counter weight to distrust, violence and everything bad that we encounter daily.

In Germany we have a very famous puppet theater, "Die Augsburger Puppenkiste", and all kids of my generation excitedly watched these stories on TV. There is a saying: "As soon as you see the strings while watching the Augsburger Puppenkiste, your childhood is over!"

Let childhood last as long as possible! Believing in fairytales and magic and dreams can help.

Let Santa be alive, and at the same time let Jesus be even more alive. Kids will find out one day that Jesus is real, and Santa not, because they will recognize the "fruit"...

Oh and by the way:

Not Yet Christmas 2009

In September often weather

Gives us times of warmth and sun.

It was hot and so cold water

Became part of my day’s plan.

I gathered towels and all I needed

And headed for the nearest pool.

But if I swim, I need some picknic,

You might call this a childhood rule.

I stopped right at the next discounter

Inside I stood, could only stare:

Gingerbread and chocolate Santas

Were standing almost everywhere.

I wanted to enjoy my day off,

Bought fruits and bread and other stuff.

But suddenly I started sneezing,

My breast got tight, I had to cough.

When I came home, all of a sudden,

My nose and lungs were free again.

Nevertheless I took a bath then.

That was the end of my great plan.

A few weeks later I went shopping.

I strolled through bookstores leisurely

Looking at storybooks for children

When illness caught a hold on me.

I coughed and sneezed, my throat was rough,

And tears were running from my eyes.

I couldn’t recognize the pictures

Of Santa Claus and snow and ice.

Back in the car the symptoms vanished;

Went to the doctor straightaway.

I would accept swine flu quarantine

but wouldn’t stand this one more day!

It’s not the flu, the doctor told me,

But quarantine is requisite.

If I would leave home for a minute,

I’d bargain for another fit.

No matter how intense I pleaded,

In this point he was very clear:

The remedy against my illness

Is house arrest until New Year!

You wonder why? This is the cause:

I’m allergic to Santa Claus!

Edited December 22, 2009 by stormwitch

[applepansy]

Question: Do you think it is wrong to tell your kids that Santa is real? I've always been torn on the issue. My parents told me he was real and I believed him and remember being happy about it until I found out that he didn't really exist and I was sad but not too much because I was older and was fine with it.

In today's world you don't need to worry to much about this. If your children watch TV then they've seen the Target commercial. Which in a very subtle way explains that gifts came from Mom and Dad.

My kids are all grown. They will still tell you they believe :) As the boys got older and started trying to tell their baby sister that Santa wasn't real. We reminded them that Santa doesn't come to those kids who don't believe in him. Then we arranged to have a Big old box with a stereo and toys left in our front room when we couldn't possibly be home. That shut the boys up for a few more years. They never figured out who did it, even today they don't KNOW who left it all.

A few years back one of them asked...I forget which one. We stayed with the original story, with a smile though and a wink

Ten years ago our story was reenforced. Our oldest son died in Nov 1999. Our ward left wrapped Christmas presents in our living room while we were at work and school...twice. The kids asked who, but we just said "I don't know"...and we really didn't know who. Deductive reasoning told us it was our ward. Anyway, whoever it was did two things...our children believe even though they know its not really Santa and they know blessings are real. The other thing it did was put some magic back in a holiday that was very difficult that year.

Edited December 22, 2009 by applepansy

[Relentless]

I teach my children about Santa, thanks in large part to my father. My father is overweight, and always played the Santa role for school parties, ward parties and would even "visit" us at home. I am the 2nd oldest of 6, and when I was 12 or so, my older sister and I were making fun of Santa, and hinting that he didn't exist to my youngest sibblings. Now instead of his normal scream, yell, rant, rave and spank punishment routine, my father actually sat us down and told us about the magic of Santa.

The first story was about how he played Santa at a different ward's christmas party, and when a little girl came up to talk to him, she said all she wanted for Christmas was for her daddy to get a job, so he would stop being so mad at her mommy, and stop hitting her mommy. My father expressed these concerns to the Bishop, and the father was helped with finding a job. The ward collected food, clothes and toys so this family could have a christmas. I do not know what came of the allegations of spousal abuse. No one in this ward had any idea that the man had lost his job, that the family was in trouble or even suspected that anything was out of the ordinary. The small girl hadn't told anyone, not teachers at school, not her primary teachers, no one. But she had faith that Santa could help.

The second story he told is a bit more complex. He was once again playing Santa at a ward christmas party, and when he spoke to a small boy, the boy started to cry. He said that all he wanted for Christmas was for his step dad to stop hurting his sister. He told Santa that he wanted Santa to take his sister with him, to the North Pole so that his step dad couldn't be mean to his sister. Then my dad spoke with the younger sister of this 8 year old boy. She said that her brother wanted her to go to the North Pole and live with Santa forever, because her step dad was hurting her. My dad summoned the courage to ask what the step dad was doing, and the girl said he would touch her where he shouldn't. And he said that if she told anyone, even her mother, that he would kill her.

My father took this information to the Bishop, and that same day the stepdad was arrested and eventually convicted. The mother worked full time, and had no idea that anything was going on. No one else knew what was going on. Yet these 2 children believed that Santa could help them, and so they talked to him.

You can say what you want to about "lying" to kids about Santa, but to me, the magic of Santa isn't about a guy who brings presents. It's about the love that we have for children and showing them that there is someone they can talk to, someone who can help.

[Taldarin]

I teach my children about Santa, thanks in large part to my father. My father is overweight, and always played the Santa role for school parties, ward parties and would even "visit" us at home. I am the 2nd oldest of 6, and when I was 12 or so, my older sister and I were making fun of Santa, and hinting that he didn't exist to my youngest sibblings. Now instead of his normal scream, yell, rant, rave and spank punishment routine, my father actually sat us down and told us about the magic of Santa.

The first story was about how he played Santa at a different ward's christmas party, and when a little girl came up to talk to him, she said all she wanted for Christmas was for her daddy to get a job, so he would stop being so mad at her mommy, and stop hitting her mommy. My father expressed these concerns to the Bishop, and the father was helped with finding a job. The ward collected food, clothes and toys so this family could have a christmas. I do not know what came of the allegations of spousal abuse. No one in this ward had any idea that the man had lost his job, that the family was in trouble or even suspected that anything was out of the ordinary. The small girl hadn't told anyone, not teachers at school, not her primary teachers, no one. But she had faith that Santa could help.

The second story he told is a bit more complex. He was once again playing Santa at a ward christmas party, and when he spoke to a small boy, the boy started to cry. He said that all he wanted for Christmas was for his step dad to stop hurting his sister. He told Santa that he wanted Santa to take his sister with him, to the North Pole so that his step dad couldn't be mean to his sister. Then my dad spoke with the younger sister of this 8 year old boy. She said that her brother wanted her to go to the North Pole and live with Santa forever, because her step dad was hurting her. My dad summoned the courage to ask what the step dad was doing, and the girl said he would touch her where he shouldn't. And he said that if she told anyone, even her mother, that he would kill her.

My father took this information to the Bishop, and that same day the stepdad was arrested and eventually convicted. The mother worked full time, and had no idea that anything was going on. No one else knew what was going on. Yet these 2 children believed that Santa could help them, and so they talked to him.

You can say what you want to about "lying" to kids about Santa, but to me, the magic of Santa isn't about a guy who brings presents. It's about the love that we have for children and showing them that there is someone they can talk to, someone who can help.

...I definitely never thought about it from that perspective.

[Relentless]

I will never forget my father telling me his stories. I never understood how he could love Santa so much. I mean, if anyone knew my father, you would think of him as an angry, cold and unemotional person. Someone who is ruled by reason and does not let emotion get in the way (except for anger). And to see him crying while struggling to teach me the REAL reason for Santa, well, it was life altering.

[stormwitch]

I will never forget my father telling me his stories. I never understood how he could love Santa so much. I mean, if anyone knew my father, you would think of him as an angry, cold and unemotional person. Someone who is ruled by reason and does not let emotion get in the way (except for anger). And to see him crying while struggling to teach me the REAL reason for Santa, well, it was life altering.

And thank you, Relentless, for sharing these stories and your feelings with us!

[Guest]

Last night, Santa dropped by the house (ran through the backyard and threw candy in the patio saying,

"Ho ho ho", and running away again). My 8-year-old yelled, "It's Uncle Chris!". So, that's the end of the red suit for us. Kids are getting much smarter these days.

[stormwitch]

Maybe he should have knocked hard and forget about this "hohoho" stuff... that's what we did for the kids in our neighborhood, and they (1 tru 6) were absolutely convinced as the parents told us later...

[prisonchaplain]

Directing my comments to the 7-year old in our house (the 9-year knows), I explained that Santa was really a fellow in history named St. Nicholas. He really did give presents to children, and had love for others. So, we copy him and give presents to children and keep his example alive. So, in that way Santa is real.

The whole thing was rather anticlimatic for her--she kinda figured. The five year-old still believes, even though she heard the whole explanation. No arguments or anything. I just asked a few minutes later if she believes in Santa, and her eyes lit up (ka-ching!) and she said, "Yes!"

[stormwitch]

One year, when we didn't have a christmas devotional in our ward (usually on 24th, so I guess it was a Sunday that year) we went to the one in our local protestant church. Before we left, we somehow managed to get the gifts under the tree without our kids finding out. When we came out of the church a jeep with a "Santa" inside just passed us, and the kids got so excited. And when we came home and they saw the gifts under the tree, they were really convinced, that Santa had just been in our home before passing uns there at the church.

The following year we asked a friend to put a big box in front of our door, knock and leave. Again, this was very convincing...

All our kids are adults now, but we love to talk about those times.

And they still are partly convinced: If you don't believe in Santa, he might bring no gifts!!!!! So better don't take any risks!

Edited December 25, 2009 by stormwitch
bad spelling as usual

[deseretgov]

Why not have Santa be real? Just develop and elaborate delivery network of old fat men who dress up and deliver presents Christmas night. Then people could tell kids that Santa is real and it would be true.

[mightynancy]

A jolly old fat guy does deliver the gifts at our house. He is ably assisted by his lovely, less old and less fat wife.

[Guest mormonmusic]

A true story:

***********

PARENT: Let me tell you something: There is a being who loves us dearly, who watches us, who wants us to do good, and who rewards us for our good efforts with gifts. His name is Santa Claus!

CHILD: Oh, goodie! I love Santa Claus!

PARENT (Years later): Just kidding! There is no Santa Claus! It's all just pretend! But let me tell you something else: There is a being who loves us dearly, who watches us, who wants us to do good, and who rewards us for our good efforts with gifts. His name is God!

CHILD: Uh-huh. Right.

PARENT: No! Seriously! No fooling this time!

***********

Not my kids. I may tell them things that are not true, since I'm only an imperfect, ignorant mortal man. But I will never intentionally tell them falsehoods like this.

Guess I learned this the hard way. My wife was having fun with my little boy about Santa Clause. She said a few things that weren't mythical about Santa just for fun, but then he figured out they weren't true. I can't remember what they were, actually, but she left his belief in Santa intact afterwards.

Later, we were talking about something unrelated to Santa, and I told him the way it is (again, I don't remember what it was, unforunately). He turned to my daughter and said "Is that true?". I knew his uncertainty about whether to believe his parents was related to all the Santa joshing that went on earlier in the day.

I later told him I would always tell him the truth about things, and he didn't ever have to question whether what I was telling him is true. I think it's high time I told him about the real Santa Claus.

There's no way I want to jeaparodize my role as a valid teacher to my son. I think it's time we went clean.

[nprice]

I don't see any harm in doing the Santa thing. When I started questioning my parents, my dad finally sat me down and told me Santa existed but not in the way I had been taught (with the red suit and all). He said he was Santa and I could always tell my younger brothers and sisters that Santa was real by thinking to myself that I was talking about my dad. I thought it was a good way to break the news. Worked for me.

[funkenheimer]

My problem with Santa is more selfish than those who have posted so far. I work my but off day in and day out and try to save enough money to have a nice Christmas. Having said that....I want the credit for it! Not some fictional character. Having said that my daughters are currently writing thank you cards to Santa, thanking him for all the stuff I bought. Whatever makes them happy.

[pam]

That reminds me of someone else that wanted to take all the credit for himself too.

btw..I'm just teasing.

[talisyn]

My daughter wrote a letter to Santa this year (like every year), but this one said 'This will probably be the last time I write to you.'

It just about broke my heart. Why do they have to grow up?

[RainofGold]

When my son was in second grade he came home one day and ask me if Santa was real. He said that some of the kids in his class were saying that he wasn't. He was seven years old, his sister ten. My first respose of course was that he was real. If his friends chose not to believe it didn't mean he wasnt real. My son asked a few more times, with a more serious face. Now he was demanding the truth and with almost tears in his eyes pleaded with me to tell him the truth.

My daughter was already upset not wanting to know the answer to the question and mad at his brother for wanting to know. I told my son that we would talk in the afternoon when dad came home, (I wanted back-up) but he wouldn't wait. It tore me up and hurt me to tell him and his sister that Santa wasn't real. That it was us giving them the presents and eating the cookies at night. By now they were both crying,

(I tried really hard not to) but was honest with them. My son was sad but relieved that he knew the truth and didn't have to wonder any more^_^.

But that wasn't all, now he wanted to know if the bugs bunny, and the:bunny: tooth fairy were real. I told him that they were all make believe. The hardest part was when he ask me if Jesus was real that's when I saw his sad face get even more sad.

I apologize to him and his sister, and they both understood. And I also bore my testimony about Heavenly Father and Jesuschrist and told them They both loved them and that of course they were both real.

Would I have my kids believe in Santa when they were little?

I don't think so....

[Vort]

Why do they have to grow up?

Because the alternative is infinitely worse.

[john doe]

Maybe I didn't play the charade hard enough. My kids always 'knew' that Santa was not a real person. Maybe it's because when they were younger they would see us buy their presents and then on Christmas they would see those same presents being given to them labeled as from Santa. But they played along with the game because it was fun. I don't know, but when I see parents talking about how their children were emotionally devastated when they found out the truth about Santa, maybe it was because the parent 'sold' the story too hard.

And I'll agree that if your child gets to be school age and still holds tight to a belief that Santa is a living, breathing person who sneaks into your home on Christmas Eve and magically makes presents appear depending on how good or bad they were over the past year, then maybe you have gone too far with the game.

I have a 9 year old nephew who still firmly believes. I won't be the one to tell him the truth, I'll leave that to his parents, but maybe it's time they started giving him clues that they are the ones who foot the bill on Christmas.

[pam]

Or was it JD because your kids found all the presents one year and opened them all before Christmas? I do remember that.

[Elgama]

Maybe I didn't play the charade hard enough. My kids always 'knew' that Santa was not a real person. Maybe it's because when they were younger they would see us buy their presents and then on Christmas they would see those same presents being given to them labeled as from Santa. But they played along with the game because it was fun. I don't know, but when I see parents talking about how their children were emotionally devastated when they found out the truth about Santa, maybe it was because the parent 'sold' the story too hard.

.

Thats how I did Santa growing up - we knew he was not real but like I tell my kids he's as real as you want to make him, we still put milk, mince pies and a carrot out etc Santa in the local store was a bit put out when my daughter (6) said he obviously wasn't the real one. What disturbs me is the number of people say their belief in God went out along with Santa, the Tooth Fairy and other similar things

Christmas was not lacking in fun or love and I think it was better as we didn't have any false expectations i have never been let down by a Christmas, even the one when we were homeless and Mum gave me a pretty box with a £1 coin in it, that meant a 1000 times more because of the sacrifice involved than anything 'Santa' could do