Santa!?!?! I hate the lie!

This "Reason for the Season" Is suppose to be about the celebration of the birth of Christ. The presents are a representation of the gifts that were given by the three wisemen and other visitors that came to witness the birth.

It was not until the Pagan holiday came about and was introduced that "Santa" came into the picture and that is when things got out of control.

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.

It was not until the Pagan holiday came about and was introduced that "Santa" came into the picture and that is when things got out of control.

I didn't want to do Santa with my first, but did after awhile everyone convinced me I should. I am very glad I did. She loved Christmas and the magic of Santa, and when she was older we explained everything to her. She started questioning Santa at 6 and at 8 we told her the story of St. Nick. She was not crushed to learn the truth and now helps be Santa for her little brother.

Let's be clear, I said protecting children from the truth isn't necessarily lying.

Let me ask you this....

If your parents would have gotten divorced when you were 3 years old cause your dad banged his secretary, and you asked your mother why they got divorced. Would you expect them to tell you "Because daddy banged the secretary?"

If your parents got divorced and you were told "Your father died....that's why he's not here." That would be a lie. How a parent explains the divorce based on adultery is going to vary, but a child can understand unfaithfulness without being given inappropriate details.
If you tell your child about the historical origin of Santa, that would be truthful. If you tell him Santa is going to show up on a flying sleigh and slide down your chimney, etc, that would not be the truth.
Why do I feel that you already know this?

I do know what you are saying, and agree, however, the first is still a lie in my opinion. My annoyance comes in when someone starts laying out blanket statements about "You always have to tell the truth" to your children. "Never lie!!!". Omitting truths is still lying.

1. So it's okay to teach your child it's okay lie? - It in no way taught tme that lying was OK. When I found out about Santa, it was really jus like a game had ended. Oh well, a new one starts.
2. You expect your child to trust you? - Irrelevant, unless you accept the idea that children will resent the " lie " you tld them about Santa and perceive it as such.
3. Why not just teach them the truth, It;s about GOD - Unless you're an Atheist / Buddhist / Humanist etc who just enjoys the season, sense of family and togetherness, without recourse to making it a religious festival.
4. A creepy fat guy watching us all year long, then coming down our chimney eating our food and leaving. CREEPY! (and what if you don't have a chimney) - How but a big beard in the sky who watches us all the way through our lives and then decides when we die if we get to live in a nice house in the clouds or in a lake of fire?
5. It's bribery, if you were are a good parent you wouldn't need to use gifts as a way to get your child to behave all year long. - Not toomany parents peddle the Santa's watching thing in Jan / Feb / March etc.. But " God's wacing you…."
6. I work to give my child those girts, why let some imaginary guy get the credit for my hard work and time. - Surely Pride is one of the 7 Deadly Sins? Lighten up, Christmas isn't about you is it?
7. it's NOT the reason for the season. - No, we've established that the Winter Solstice celebration predates Santa ( and Christianity ) by thousands of years.
8. It's makes it all about getting gifts, instead of giving them. - You were us moaning that you didn't want someone else taking the credit. Varying levels of selfishness?
9. How do you explain to your kid that Santa was in that store, but somehow is in the very next you also? - Magic, or maybe you could cal it a "Miracle". Personally, I was told that there were loads of Santas all working for the Big Santa and who all wanted to be THE Santa one day.
10. If your feeling bad about it it, maybe that's continence trying to tell you something. - I don't know what this means.
11. my lil girl doesn't believe in it and she have never gotten picked on , i have a feeling thats YOUR OWN fear, projecting into your child's life, bc just maybe they don't just "go with the flow". - I'm glad you litle girl has never been picked on. Sincerely.
12. I would hate to be you on judgment day, trying to explain why you gave some made up guy the glory in time the was dedicated to God. - Thankfully, that's not a problem you'l have to face, so you needn't be concerned. But wy would we have to explain anyway? God is Omniscient, he knows why we do the things we do, I can't imaine he'll turn up to take interviews.
13. it does not deprive them of anything by not telling them a LIE. it teaches them gratitude for the hard work you put into giving them gifts, - It really is all about you taking the props isn't it?
14. how old is that guy anyway?!?!?!? - Hundreds of years old, hard to believe isn't it. Not like that eminently acceptable vigin birth, immaculate conception and resurrection stuff!
15. you dont t3ell your child that the Disney characters are real, why would you tell them santa is real?
i know i came off harsh, but it was all said in love. - We don't rally go out of our way to tel kids they'e ot either do we? I know you love The Little Mermaid, but you know what Sweetie DISNEY IS LYING TO YOU. HE HATES YOU AND THINkS YOU'RE GULLIBLE.
Please don't take this badly, it comes from a place of love.

What this really boils down to is how you teach your children about life. Is it ok to lie to anyone, no, absolutely not. But lets face it, we all do it to some degree every day. If you say you don't, then that is a lie in itself.

This "Reason for the Season" Is suppose to be about the celebration of the birth of Christ. The presents are a representation of the gifts that were given by the three wisemen and other visitors that came to witness the birth.

It was not until the Pagan holiday came about and was introduced that "Santa" came into the picture and that is when things got out of control.

You obviously have the right to teach you child/children what you want based on what you believe. But I know a lot of dedicated Christian families that celebrate Christmas both ways (including mine) and when their kids got older they and found out that Santa did not exist they were not devastated or disappointed. They came out just fine and understood that Santa was just for fun.

Just don't give into that whole "Elf on s Shelf" thing. That is creepy and stupid.

Sometimes being a good parent means lying to them.

My kids still believe. I love that Christmas is magical to them. Believing in santa doesn't mean you don’t teach them the meaning of Christmas though.

Another crock!


Love = honesty

Disagree! There are adult things that children should NOT be exposed to. I believe lying is at times necessary to protect them.

Protecting little ones is NOT the same as telling them lies. Don't be absurd.

Semantics! Lying by omission is still a lie and although we are friends I think you are being extremely judgmental, condescending and frankly you are being absurd.

I'm not trying to be judgmental. The Santa Myth is one of my biggest pet peeves. In this, I am the "Annoying Atheist." Sorry.

Tell him the truth. My mom did, and I learned to appreciate Christmas for the family time and spirit of generosity. I'm going to do the same for mine.

So true! My kids understand and appreciate Christmas, whereas the ones that get told the Santa lie, end up believing that Christmas is all about presents.

This is a horrible thing to say. and not true.

It's horrible to equate Christmas with giving presents. It's also horrible to lie to your loved ones because it's "entertaining" or whatever.

Christmas is about presents. Are you new?

That's too bad that people feel that way. smh


We have had Christmas at our house when my husband was in the hospital and no one got any presents. Yet, it was still Christmas. Christmas has nothing to do with presents. And thank God for that!

Why bother celebrating it at all? It's essentially meaningless.

What this really boils down to is how you teach your children about life. Is it ok to lie to anyone, no, absolutely not. But lets face it, we all do it to some degree every day. If you say you don't, then that is a lie in itself.