Should we encourage the belief?
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Defiantly. It sets them up for disappointment later in life. :laugh:0
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I have two graduate degrees myself, and years of experience in my field, and the one thing I can honestly say is that education without experience is less than useless. You have also formed your opinion without having any research to back it up. No scientist I know would make any point and put forth their credentials as a way of backing it up, without also pointing out the exceptions which took me repeated questioning to bring out.
Yeah, I knew when I posted that there would be at least one person who would jump all over me for it, but I posted it anyway because I believe that my educational experience in the area is relevant regardless of whether you do or not. I would never claim something as a professional opinion unless it was in the field of clinical research in which I do have many years of professional experience. But I also believe there are way too many parents out there (who yes, obviously have more parenting experience than me) who are doing things "just because" and I think every parent should have to have some basic courses in child psychology. If you're interested in how children's brains and psyche develop, I highly recommend it. I honestly find it much more valuable experience for my future as a parent than I ever did for my future in my career (hence me not continuing with it and changing my focus). But I never form an opinion without "research to back it up" and as I've said, it's definitely something that we looked into a lot during my education, but that was 10 years ago so I'm sorry I don't have any textbooks or articles to show you about lying to children, and I'm not sure this is the place for it.
My parents lied to me about Santa Claus, and I am not a pathological liar by any means, nor do I believe that just because you lie to your kids they will turn out to be such. But I think it is unnecessary, and encourages the materialistic part of society, and I would much rather talk to them about things that are real and good about Christmas.
This is my educated opinion. Which I'm entitled to. It's also my opinion that an educated opinion has more value than an uneducated one. And that's also my opinion. Which I'm entitled to.
Edit: Again, I'm not suggesting that belief in Santa Claus alone will turn your children into monsters, but it is part of a TREND of things that parents seem to just tell their kids and expect them to believe without requiring answers more than "it's magic". When my kids point out that it would be really hard for Santa to make it to all the houses in the world in one night, I don't plan to say, "it's magic" - I want to encourage that kind of critical thinking and questioning things they're told.
Yes. It is your educated and very inexperienced opinion. And yes, you are entitled to it. In the future, you may want to make it clear without forcing someone to cross examine you. I've actually spoken about this issue in detail with real experts and the majority of opinions that I have heard tell me that no harm is done. You see, I take my job as a father incredibly seriously. You may want to learn to be less judgmental, as inexperienced and judgmental is one heck of a combination. I am sure you will bring much honor to your eventual profession.
Edit: To be very clear, the only objection I have is to your claim that encouraging a belief in Santa Claus is damaging. I think either choice is pretty legitimate on a parent's part, and I can see good arguments either way. I doubt either is damaging.0 -
Jesus is just as real as Santa. ;-)0
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thank you!Jesus is just as real as Santa. ;-)0 -
thank you!Jesus is just as real as Santa. ;-)
Please don't get this thread locked! Why can't Santa just be fun ya'll!? :sad: :sad: :sad:0 -
Jesus is just as real as Santa. ;-)
And the inevitable downward spiral towards lockdown begins in 3 2 1....0 -
Suggesting that encouraging aTEMPORARY belief in Santa Claus will cause chidren to forego critical thinking FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES is asinine. I don't have any graduate degrees but I'm pretty sure I don't need one to say conclusively that the majority of people who grew up believing in Santa Claus did not develop trust issues because of it.
Way to jump the shark!
Socrates would agree with you. One of Plato's critical thinking tools was having Socrates allow someone to believe the truth of something that isn't true and allow them, through a series of questions, discoveries, etc. to determine the real truth. That IS critical thinking at its finest.
That, and Albert Einstein would have said that it's just fun to play pretend with kids. But he had a lot of kids around him and would know something about it. Obviously, not regarding the belief in Santa being as how he wasn't Christian faith.0 -
If you say Jesus backwards it sounds like Sausage.
Kinda explains what going on in the Churches........
Oh never mind.
Just sayn. :huh:
*Prepares for a beating ......0 -
Suggesting that encouraging aTEMPORARY belief in Santa Claus will cause chidren to forego critical thinking FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES is asinine. I don't have any graduate degrees but I'm pretty sure I don't need one to say conclusively that the majority of people who grew up believing in Santa Claus did not develop trust issues because of it.
Way to jump the shark!
I, for one, never said that letting them believe in Santa would ruin their critical thinking skills for life; and I don't think anyone was suggesting that. But when my kids ask me a question, I'd like to think that I can help them figure out the answer themselves, mostly through probing questions which cause them to think, rather than just handing them the information. And I certainly much prefer not to hand them incorrect information.0 -
Suggesting that encouraging aTEMPORARY belief in Santa Claus will cause chidren to forego critical thinking FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES is asinine. I don't have any graduate degrees but I'm pretty sure I don't need one to say conclusively that the majority of people who grew up believing in Santa Claus did not develop trust issues because of it.
Way to jump the shark!
Socrates would agree with you. One of Plato's critical thinking tools was having Socrates allow someone to believe the truth of something that isn't true and allow them, through a series of questions, discoveries, etc. to determine the real truth. That IS critical thinking at its finest.
That, and Albert Einstein would have said that it's just fun to play pretend with kids. But he had a lot of kids around him and would know something about it. Obviously, not regarding the belief in Santa being as how he wasn't Christian faith.
Exactly. And that's how I discovered the truth about Santa. I kept asking my mother how all these improbalities could be true and she said "What do you think?" Eventually I came to the conclusion that Santa was not real. Was I upset for awhile? Yes. Did I get over it? Pretty quickly. And do the wonderful memories of believing in that magic persist while the dissapointment has long since abated? You betcha.0 -
If you say Jesus backwards it sounds like Sausage.
Kinda explains what going on in the Churches........
Oh never mind.
Just sayn. :huh:
*Prepares for a beating ......
I believe in Sausage...0 -
My hubby doesn't encourage the belief in Santa but doesn't say he's not real either. When the little one asks he just asks them if they think he is real. I on the other hand tell them there is a Santa. I'm not lying either because Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas and he was a real person and is an actual saint so Santa Claus is real.0
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MY mother taught us what the idea of santa claus and christmas were but we never believed in it and we were a lot more grateful to our parents than my children are to us (they believe in santa cuz hubby wanted them to) SO I personally don't think it's beneficial0
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If you say Jesus backwards it sounds like Sausage.
Kinda explains what going on in the Churches........
Oh never mind.
Just sayn. :huh:
*Prepares for a beating ......
I believe in Sausage...
It's all about the Bacon. And bacon spelled backwards is "no cab" and that sux at 3:00 in the morning when it's raining0 -
I remember my parents lying to me about Santa, and I was very angry at them when I found out it was a lie. It was compounded by them continuing to lie after I told them that I knew. That Christmas sucked.
Honestly, why can't we all just share love, gifts, and hot chocolate and be merry? Why do we need some creepy, red-cheeked stalker checking in on our children?0 -
I wasn't allowed to believe in Santa. And my entire life is a hot mess. And I think that this is the sole reason why....
But seriously, I wasn't allowed to believe in Santa, and it sucked.0 -
If you say Jesus backwards it sounds like Sausage.
Kinda explains what going on in the Churches........
Oh never mind.
Just sayn. :huh:
*Prepares for a beating ......
I believe in Sausage...
It's all about the Bacon. And bacon spelled backwards is "no cab" and that sux at 3:00 in the morning when it's raining
The reason there's no cab is because you don't believe enough. Try harder.0 -
It's all about the Bacon. And bacon spelled backwards is "no cab" and that sux at 3:00 in the morning when it's raining
Desserts spelled backwards is stressed, kind of like how you'd feel if it were raining and there weren't any cabs at 3 am. Moral of story:
Eat Bacon. And desserts.0 -
If you say Jesus backwards it sounds like Sausage.
Kinda explains what going on in the Churches........
Oh never mind.
Just sayn. :huh:
*Prepares for a beating ......
I believe in Sausage...
It's all about the Bacon. And bacon spelled backwards is "no cab" and that sux at 3:00 in the morning when it's raining
The reason there's no cab is because you don't believe enough. Try harder.
Hmmm, where have I heard that before???
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I remember my parents lying to me about Santa, and I was very angry at them when I found out it was a lie. It was compounded by them continuing to lie after I told them that I knew. That Christmas sucked.
Honestly, why can't we all just share love, gifts, and hot chocolate and be merry? Why do we need some creepy, red-cheeked stalker checking in on our children?
Santa creeps me out too. He was a real person at one time, but he's dead now. My kids hated Santa and never like the ideal, at 3 and 5 they asked me why parents lied about Santa when they knew the parents did all the work and they had no fireplace for him to get in the house. Easter bunny... No. Tooth fairy.... No. Halloween they asked me about pumpkins and candy. Kids are smart. Well at least mine are. They just always knew it was all lies and couldn't understand why parents lied so much, if lying was bad and we constantly told them that. ..... Interesting isn't it. Well my kids didn't care about all the shenanigans. They had plenty of imagination growing up....like one Christmas we woke them up at 5 am when it was dark. They woke up to the sound of a T Rex outside by the pool ( surround sound) and we went in screaming ruuuuuuuuun... They ran in the living room screaming and saw their Jurassic park jeep and started laughing. So I don't feel I denied them imagination or anything else by telling them the truth they wanted to know. They're 21 and 19 and 14 now, they still joke and laugh about the crazy stuff they did as kids. And they're fine. I did go out of my way to make Christmas about God, family love and nothing less than awesome decor, and of course giving.0
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