Santa!?!?! I hate the lie!

_KitKat_

I have read this WHOLE thread, I couldn't believe how nasty some people got.

So I decided as all these adults understand and argue about what Santa does to a child, I should ask a child. I asked my 13 yr old daughter "Did believing in Santa effect you for good or bad, and did you feel betrayed by anyone?" Here is her response:

"I think Santa is a great TRADITION (this is her word). I did not feel betrayed or lied too, it was fun and I think it is a part of growing up...I knew almost 90% the truth before you finally told me. It made Christmas time fun and magical. I think if I didn't believe when I was little it would have made the holidays less fun and a little weird at school. Over all it was just fun."

I then asked her" what is Christmas about?" and she said "Family, food, helping and fun" Not once did she mention presents even though I know it popped in her head. I then asked "So you don't feel I lied to you?" Her response was " NO, it was fun and just the way it is, The lights and Santa and the stories made Christmas seem like anything was possible. I plan to do Santa when I have kids when I am an adult, it was fun and I don't want to miss the chance to be Santa."

So take it for what you want but that is one 13 yr old girls impression of Santa.

MinMin97

I think the real problem here is that no one wants to be told that they are lying to their children.

It's not a lie if the intentions are good.

What?! Confused. What do you think is a lie?

Bry_Fitness70

"I'm so mad at my parents for making me believe in Santa and giving me presents" - said no sane person, ever.

emirror

I think the real problem here is that no one wants to be told that they are lying to their children.

It's not a lie if the intentions are good.

What?! Confused. What do you think is a lie?

She was being a little sarcastic, I think.

emirror

"I'm so mad at my parents for making me believe in Santa and giving me presents" - said no sane person, ever.

That's just rude. There are sane people who didn't like being lied to about Santa, regardless of the presents.

BrainyBurro

I have read this WHOLE thread, I couldn't believe how nasty some people got.

So I decided as all these adults understand and argue about what Santa does to a child, I should ask a child. I asked my 13 yr old daughter "Did believing in Santa effect you for good or bad, and did you feel betrayed by anyone?" Here is her response:

"I think Santa is a great TRADITION (this is her word). I did not feel betrayed or lied too, it was fun and I think it is a part of growing up...I knew almost 90% the truth before you finally told me. It made Christmas time fun and magical. I think if I didn't believe when I was little it would have made the holidays less fun and a little weird at school. Over all it was just fun."

I then asked her" what is Christmas about?" and she said "Family, food, helping and fun" Not once did she mention presents even though I know it popped in her head. I then asked "So you don't feel I lied to you?" Her response was " NO, it was fun and just the way it is, The lights and Santa and the stories made Christmas seem like anything was possible. I plan to do Santa when I have kids when I am an adult, it was fun and I don't want to miss the chance to be Santa."

So take it for what you want but that is one 13 yr old girls impression of Santa.

you're clearly an unfit parent!

*calling child services on you as i type this post*

em435

I have read this WHOLE thread, I couldn't believe how nasty some people got.

So I decided as all these adults understand and argue about what Santa does to a child, I should ask a child. I asked my 13 yr old daughter "Did believing in Santa effect you for good or bad, and did you feel betrayed by anyone?" Here is her response:

"I think Santa is a great TRADITION (this is her word). I did not feel betrayed or lied too, it was fun and I think it is a part of growing up...I knew almost 90% the truth before you finally told me. It made Christmas time fun and magical. I think if I didn't believe when I was little it would have made the holidays less fun and a little weird at school. Over all it was just fun."

I then asked her" what is Christmas about?" and she said "Family, food, helping and fun" Not once did she mention presents even though I know it popped in her head. I then asked "So you don't feel I lied to you?" Her response was " NO, it was fun and just the way it is, The lights and Santa and the stories made Christmas seem like anything was possible. I plan to do Santa when I have kids when I am an adult, it was fun and I don't want to miss the chance to be Santa."

So take it for what you want but that is one 13 yr old girls impression of Santa.

:flowerforyou:
/thread

Myhaloslipped

As a kid, the thought of some jolly, fat stranger breaking into our house through the chimney to "eat cookies and leave presents" scared the crap out of me. I always had trouble sleeping on Christmas Eve because I was so frightened.

MinMin97

*sighs* Of course they needed to experience the world more; THEY WERE CHILDREN WHEN THEY FIGURED IT OUT. Children get upset over being lied to, sometimes it makes them feel foolish to have believed it. SMH

I have lived in four different cities in three different states. I have made friends from literally all over the world. I have never, ever met a single person (until this thread) who was upset about finding out Santa wasn't real or felt that he or she had been "lied to."


If someone's psyche is that fragile, there is more going on.

It's a game of pretend. It's make believe. It's silly and fun. It isn't a lie.

It's only pretend and make believe if every knows it is pretend and make believe. This is told to children as truth. Not as a "let's play pretend" setup.

*shrug*

Maybe it's "only fun" for you under those circumstances. The fun is IN the believing -- believing in something incomprehensible and magical. What fun is it knowing it isn't real?

My children have fun all day everyday pretending. They know it's pretend.

Do they? I bet they believe in a lot of the things you think they "know" are pretend.

I think the real issue here is how many people grow up and forget what it was like to be children.

I see your point. True, true. And they say some funny things, making me realize they really believe something. However, when they ask us questions, which they do non-stop, we give them the truth. Of course, they always ask about holidays as they come up.

tabatharose60

Parenting, Politics, and Religion should probably never be talked about on the internet, especially in these forums. It's terrible how some people are acting.

kellenas

I am, actually. We have bonfires, and I spin poi, everyone gets sloshed, and no one talks about Santa. :laugh:

what about when your kids blow out the candles on their birthday cakes? do you tell them, "try to blow out all of your candles in one breath, but nothing will happen."?

Blowing out candles is a game (as in, see if you can get them in one breath!!! Yay, you did it!). We don't really talk about making wishes, because they can't conceptualize how a wish could be made true. We talk about things we want, or want to do, and we talk about making plans to make those things happen... but we don't sit around and wish for things.

What about children with imaginary friends? Are they told to stop the shenanigans?

WendyTerry420

I am, actually. We have bonfires, and I spin poi, everyone gets sloshed, and no one talks about Santa. :laugh:

what about when your kids blow out the candles on their birthday cakes? do you tell them, "try to blow out all of your candles in one breath, but nothing will happen."?

Blowing out candles is a game (as in, see if you can get them in one breath!!! Yay, you did it!). We don't really talk about making wishes, because they can't conceptualize how a wish could be made true. We talk about things we want, or want to do, and we talk about making plans to make those things happen... but we don't sit around and wish for things.

If wishes were horses, all beggars would ride...

jigsawxyouth

Is there really a book called The Farting Dog?! I need to find that!

OMG. We had so many books like that for the kids. My youngest discovered why swiss cheese has holes in it....he googled for it....the bacteria farts and makes the holes in the cheese. :laugh: He was about 8 years old and still laughs about it at 18 years old.

and this was when I wished MFP had a like button

kellenas

I think parents like these are the coolest. They foster their kids imagination instead of squashing it:

http://www.quickmeme.com/p/3vpa2h

absolutely! this made me smile

emirror

I am, actually. We have bonfires, and I spin poi, everyone gets sloshed, and no one talks about Santa. :laugh:

what about when your kids blow out the candles on their birthday cakes? do you tell them, "try to blow out all of your candles in one breath, but nothing will happen."?

Blowing out candles is a game (as in, see if you can get them in one breath!!! Yay, you did it!). We don't really talk about making wishes, because they can't conceptualize how a wish could be made true. We talk about things we want, or want to do, and we talk about making plans to make those things happen... but we don't sit around and wish for things.

What about children with imaginary friends? Are they told to stop the shenanigans?

If it were mine, I would make sure they knew it was imaginary. If they want to pretend, what do I care? We pretend the tooth fairy is real, but I am sure that she knows it is just pretend and she knows that I am the one pretending to be the tooth fairy. I'm not against imagination, I have a very active imagination myself; but I'm not going to tell them that a myth is real and get them to believe it, and then do things to reinforce the belief that it is a real thing (letters, gifts signed from Santa, milk and cookies, carrots for the reindeer).

FindingMyPerfection

I think the real problem here is that no one wants to be told that they are lying to their children.

It's not a lie if the intentions are good.

What?! Confused. What do you think is a lie?

She was being a little sarcastic, I think.

We really need a sarcasm font!

bloominheck

WTF do you MEAN there is no Santa...You take that back !!!! :sad:

kellenas

I am, actually. We have bonfires, and I spin poi, everyone gets sloshed, and no one talks about Santa. :laugh:

what about when your kids blow out the candles on their birthday cakes? do you tell them, "try to blow out all of your candles in one breath, but nothing will happen."?

Blowing out candles is a game (as in, see if you can get them in one breath!!! Yay, you did it!). We don't really talk about making wishes, because they can't conceptualize how a wish could be made true. We talk about things we want, or want to do, and we talk about making plans to make those things happen... but we don't sit around and wish for things.

What about children with imaginary friends? Are they told to stop the shenanigans?

If it were mine, I would make sure they knew it was imaginary. If they want to pretend, what do I care? We pretend the tooth fairy is real, but I am sure that she knows it is just pretend and she knows that I am the one pretending to be the tooth fairy. I'm not against imagination, I have a very active imagination myself; but I'm not going to tell them that a myth is real and get them to believe it, and then do things to reinforce the belief that it is a real thing (letters, gifts signed from Santa, milk and cookies, carrots for the reindeer).

How do you make sure she knows it's imaginary? To some children, their imaginary friends are as real as you and me. To some children, it's the only real friend they feel like they have.

Bry_Fitness70

"I'm so mad at my parents for making me believe in Santa and giving me presents" - said no sane person, ever.

That's just rude. There are sane people who didn't like being lied to about Santa, regardless of the presents.

If that is the worst thing that your parents ever did then you have lived an amazingly charmed life.

emirror

"I'm so mad at my parents for making me believe in Santa and giving me presents" - said no sane person, ever.

That's just rude. There are sane people who didn't like being lied to about Santa, regardless of the presents.

If that is the worst thing that your parents ever did then you have lived an amazingly charmed life.

No, there was more to it, you missed the first thread, maybe?

Here, copied and pasted to save the click:

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.