Santa!?!?! I hate the lie!

rml_16

We chose to skip them entirely. I think equating Christmas with receiving presents is absurd.

It isn't about receiving presents. It's about giving presents.

dbmata

And calling it "the Santa Myth" is incredibly insulting and condescending.

It is a myth. There's no way around it. No one, except for children who haven't figured out that they are being lied to, believe it. Everyone of an age of reason knows that it is false. That is a myth.

Yeah it's a myth. It's a fun myth though.

My favorite is the Krampus.

FindingMyPerfection

Not going to join this ridiculous debate besides providing these quotes.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

― Albert Einstein

'If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.'

—Albert Einstein

Currently reading them Peter Pan, 1 chapter a night before bed.

DrMAvDPhD

I love how everyone is saying its about a childs imagination, and probably will be buying them a ps4 or other electronic play system for xmas. If you want a child to have a child-like imagination, you dont have to do it with a lie you can just give them a box and tell them to play outside. We didnt celebrate xmas and I had a wild imagination as a child, but I was only allowed to play the nintendo for a hour, and my bro sis and I had to split the hour umongst us. Since I was the baby I got a good 5-10 mins worth of play time haha

Oh you poor thing. Only an hour on the Nintendo? We didn't own video games (ever) or get basic cable on our single 20 inch tv until I was about 14. Do I get a prize?


On a more related note, I think celebrating the Spirit of Santa Claus (magic, giving, happiness) is more important than convincing your children he is real. And honestly, if denying your child Santa Claus is the biggest mistake you make as a parent, you're doing pretty good in my book. That being said, I grew up believing and to this day give my husband presents from Santa (no kids). I'm not read to let go of the magic.

RiannonC

Ok, My thoughts are not popular, but we all have to choose how to raise our children, so here it goes. I feel exactly like you do. And I have no clue what your religious beliefs are, but for us, it is the time we celebrate our savior's birth. So, We were really torn! Then one day, our oldest just straight up asked us, like yours did, if he was real, we just decided we were not gonna lie about it. We are extremely blunt and honest people to begin with, and always talk with our kids about how we will always tell them the truth, no matter what.
I do feel like in the back of my mind, I always did remember feeling betrayed that my parents had lied to me about Santa. I am an extremely trusting person. If my parents told me something was true, then it was true, you know? So, we do not "do" Santa. I am actually buying a book at St. Nicholas to start reading to them at Christmas time. They know the story because we have told them, but St. Nicholas Day is Dec. 6th, I believe, and I would like to start incorporating that into our traditions. He was a real person and did wonderful things and showed compassion. Okay, ramble over.

I agree. My parents always made sure I knew Santa was just pretend, and as a kid, I always felt kind of sorry for my friends who believed in Santa. I have told my children it is pretend, because I can't look them in the eye and tell them something that I know is not true. We still go see Santa and do the whole bit, but they know that it is just a pretend game we are playing.

I'm not saying anyone is wrong for doing it differently. My husband grew up believing in Santa and had a great experience. No huge let down when he found out. But you just have to do what you feel comfortable with as a parent. And I couldn't tell my kids Santa is real.

WendyTerry420

I can't believe this thread has gone on for so many pages.....

I thought it would go to 2 max!

Well a lot of people are very upset about your Santa beliefs. Maybe Santa should be added to religion in the ToS. People are acting like their entire holiday is crushed because someone on the internet disagrees.

Better check your FL twice for liars...wouldnt want to associate with them, now would you?

You think my FL is full of liars?

No, you do.

I mean, I am sure some of your FL are liars that participated in the Santa tradition and now according to you have greedy and horrible children.

I can see that you failed to understand the point. I don't care how other people raise their kids, just don't tell me how to raise mine. No one in my FL has EVER tried to tell me how to raise my kids.

:laugh:

rml_16

And calling it "the Santa Myth" is incredibly insulting and condescending.

It is a myth. There's no way around it. No one, except for children who haven't figured out that they are being lied to, believe it. Everyone of an age of reason knows that it is false. That is a myth.

Then you should put "myth" at the end of every fictional book and movie title.

BeanCounter3

wow! this one took off fast!

emirror

speaking as a child who was "lied to" about Santa... it didn't make me mistrust my parents or any of those things mentioned in the thread. I could understand it was just a bit of fun that parents tell their kids. Yes even at age 6 I could understand that, without adults explaining it to me.

For me, it was extremely painful to realize Santa wasn't true. I had a really, really ****ty childhood, and god, jesus, nor the church members I went to for help, bothered to help me. My last ditch string of hope was that santa was real, and he could see that I was a nice kid who didn't deserve the hellish life I had. When I realized that santa really wasn't real, it really sunk in that I was completely alone in the world, that no one was going to help me, that no one was going to come save me.

I felt the same thing when I finally rejected the christian myth as well.

So, does it color my perception on whether we should perpetuate the lie? Yes, it does. It also makes me feel that false hope, not matter how well-intentioned, is detrimental. Believing in any of these false gods is detrimental, because NOTHING supernatural is going to come to your aid, no matter how good of a person you are. If you don't expect a god to rescue you, you can devote your time to actually making the world a better place.

WendyTerry420

Who gives a f*@k???? Each to their own. Do what you want to do.

QFT

Stop attacking people for their beliefs, and we won't feel the need to attack back in defense of our choices!

LOL. What the pro-santa people have been saying is that Santa is good for the imagination and that it's fun fairytale and to lighten up a bit.

What you have been saying is this:

1. Parents who let their kids believe in Santa are liars and inherently dishonest.
2. Children who celebrate with Santa are bound to be selfish, spoiled brats who only want gifts.

And I'm not even going to get into your marriage insinuation which was insulting, rude and completely uncalled for.

What sounds more like an attack to you?

You have the right to your opinion. That right stops where the rights of others begins. :flowerforyou:

I'm pretty sure I didn't attack anyone, insult anyone, or tell anyone how to live their lives.

Not that I've noticed, so why lump yourself in with Annoying Atheists if you are respectful of the beliefs of others?

rml_16

I love how everyone is saying its about a childs imagination, and probably will be buying them a ps4 or other electronic play system for xmas. If you want a child to have a child-like imagination, you dont have to do it with a lie you can just give them a box and tell them to play outside. We didnt celebrate xmas and I had a wild imagination as a child, but I was only allowed to play the nintendo for a hour, and my bro sis and I had to split the hour umongst us. Since I was the baby I got a good 5-10 mins worth of play time haha

Oh you poor thing. Only an hour on the Nintendo? We didn't own video games (ever) or get basic cable on our single 20 inch tv until I was about 14. Do I get a prize?

We had a 13-inch. black and white TV until I was in eigth grade and no cable until I was an adult. And no video games even now (except that unused Wii I mentioned earlier, but we've only had that a couple months).

I win. :-)

FindingMyPerfection

And calling it "the Santa Myth" is incredibly insulting and condescending.

It is a myth. There's no way around it. No one, except for children who haven't figured out that they are being lied to, believe it. Everyone of an age of reason knows that it is false. That is a myth.

Then you should put "myth" at the end of every fictional book and movie title.

its called fiction myth would be redundant.

WendyTerry420

We chose to skip them entirely. I think equating Christmas with receiving presents is absurd.

It isn't about receiving presents. It's about giving presents.

It can be about giving without "presents" being involved. You can give of your time, your talents, your attention, etc.

rml_16

speaking as a child who was "lied to" about Santa... it didn't make me mistrust my parents or any of those things mentioned in the thread. I could understand it was just a bit of fun that parents tell their kids. Yes even at age 6 I could understand that, without adults explaining it to me.

For me, it was extremely painful to realize Santa wasn't true. I had a really, really ****ty childhood, and god, jesus, nor the church members I went to for help, bothered to help me. My last ditch string of hope was that santa was real, and he could see that I was a nice kid who didn't deserve the hellish life I had. When I realized that santa really wasn't real, it really sunk in that I was completely alone in the world, that no one was going to help me, that no one was going to come save me.

I felt the same thing when I finally rejected the christian myth as well.

So, does it color my perception on whether we should perpetuate the lie? Yes, it does. It also makes me feel that false hope, not matter how well-intentioned, is detrimental. Believing in any of these false gods is detrimental, because NOTHING supernatural is going to come to your aid, no matter how good of a person you are. If you don't expect a god to rescue you, you can devote your time to actually making the world a better place.

You had a crappy childhood so no one else should have any fun?

PRMinx

Who gives a f*@k???? Each to their own. Do what you want to do.

QFT

Stop attacking people for their beliefs, and we won't feel the need to attack back in defense of our choices!

LOL. What the pro-santa people have been saying is that Santa is good for the imagination and that it's fun fairytale and to lighten up a bit.

What you have been saying is this:

1. Parents who let their kids believe in Santa are liars and inherently dishonest.
2. Children who celebrate with Santa are bound to be selfish, spoiled brats who only want gifts.

And I'm not even going to get into your marriage insinuation which was insulting, rude and completely uncalled for.

What sounds more like an attack to you?

You have the right to your opinion. That right stops where the rights of others begins. :flowerforyou:

I'm pretty sure I didn't attack anyone, insult anyone, or tell anyone how to live their lives.

Not that I've noticed, so why lump yourself in with Annoying Atheists if you are respectful of the beliefs of others?

Perhaps the problem you are having is that you are so quick to respond and "be right" that you aren't even really reading what people are posting. You've got the wrong person here. I haven't said a word about Atheists, Christians, Pagans, etc. nor would I.

rml_16

And calling it "the Santa Myth" is incredibly insulting and condescending.

It is a myth. There's no way around it. No one, except for children who haven't figured out that they are being lied to, believe it. Everyone of an age of reason knows that it is false. That is a myth.

Then you should put "myth" at the end of every fictional book and movie title.

its called fiction myth would be redundant.

So "fiction" must be in the title of every fictional book and movie?

WendyTerry420

Not going to join this ridiculous debate besides providing these quotes.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

― Albert Einstein

'If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.'

—Albert Einstein

Currently reading them Peter Pan, 1 chapter a night before bed.

"I *do* believe in fairies!"

We read that when they were little. I do miss those days!

emirror

And calling it "the Santa Myth" is incredibly insulting and condescending.

It is a myth. There's no way around it. No one, except for children who haven't figured out that they are being lied to, believe it. Everyone of an age of reason knows that it is false. That is a myth.

Then you should put "myth" at the end of every fictional book and movie title.

That's just silly.

headofphat

So my oldest is 3 and asked me about Santa and Christmas. I told him the basic crap that everyone spews and I hate myself for it! Wh does he need to believe in Santa just to have it crushed later in life? Why set them up for disappointment later in life. Am I a bad mom because I don't want to perpetuate this myth?

Thoughts please.

Dumbest question ever. It's not a lie, it's a fantasy. It's about letting children still believe that there is something good and mystical in the world. They have the rest of their lives to realize that everything they come in contact with has strings attached and nothing is ever free. You have an extremely cynical way of looking at it but go ahead and ruin their fantasy. While you're at it don't ever read a fiction book because those are also set in fantasy.

Say goodbye to Dr. Suess books, The Giving Tree, The Farting Dog, The BCS, an intelligent liberal and the tooth fairy. It's all fantasy world.

Nikki_7680

Why is it a "lie"? You are letting your child believe in something magical! That's the problem with this world. We don't let kids be kids anymore! My heart breaks knowing that I only have a few years left of my children believing in Santa. They believe in Santa for like 10% of their life--the rest is spent knowing the realities of the world they live in. Dealth, cruelty, poverty, war. Let them be kids! They will not resent you for it! They will hopefully get excited again as adults to share the Santa tradition with their children. I know having kids and playing Santa has brought the magic of Christmas back for me! I am just as excited Christmas morning and they are. You seem to be worried that they will mistrust you in the end. Personally, I think they will have more issues being known as the kids who told all the other kids there was no Santa.