Santa or no Santa?

[Pam]

Just wondering, do or will you (for those whose lil buns are still cooking) teach your kids to believe in Santa or not and why?

I always said growing up that I would not teach my children about Santa because it's a lie and I don't want to decieve my children and lose their trust and I thought it taught them the wrong idea about what Christmas is truly about but now that I have a son I think it would be a lot of fun and make Christmas more exciting to play the Santa card.

[Chi829]

Funny how our worlds get flipped upside down when we have kids huh? I will play santa with our son although he is still too young this year. I was brought up to beleive in Santa and have such FOND memories of Christmas eve!!!

[Bigsweetie]

I always thought the same way til I had kids. I don't think it's too harmful. We make sure they know the REAL meaning of Christmas and we talk about "baby Jesus", etc. Besides, their little eyes light up when they see him at the mall.

Not to mention... he's great to use as bribery!

[SeatClutcher]

Did anyone, as a child, experience lasting adverse psychological effects from believing in Santa?

I LOVED Santa, and I'm pretty sure that if I had a child, the child would get to have all the fun believing in Santa brought me. It never even occurred to me, once I learned the truth, to be mad at my dad for "lying." He'd have said,

"Did you have fun?"

My answer, of course, would have been "yes."

"So, big deal," he'd have said. And - yep. Big deal. People know the difference between a harmful lie and a fun game that lets you use your imagination.

[Regina]

We do not do Santa, but we tell our kids that some people do, so not to ruin it for them.

On December 6th, we celebrate St. Nicholas' Feast Day. Traditionally, kids get goodies in their shoes.

We get the picture of them with Santa Clause, but they know it is just pretend....we still watch all the Christmas classics and things too. Our old Church had St. Nicholas dress up and go around and hand out presents on December 6th.

Then, on Christmas we either go to midnight Mass or Mass in the morning. We used to do a birthday cake that morning for Jesus and then open presents under the tree. It works for us, and the kids seem just as excited as I was when I was younger.

[Mrs.Alchemist]

What!? You mean there's no Santa!?

I am sure that we will go with the whole Santa thing... I think it's fun, and kids love to use their imaginations anyhow. It kind of adds to the magic of Christmas. When I was a kid, we always did St. Nick's Day, too. We also did Advent, and made a Birthday cake (sometimes) for Jesus. I say, do it all!

[Mistress Trista]

We do Santa here. Even the fifteen year old gets stuff from Santa and he pretends so as not to ruin it for the younger one. I still send my oldest stuff marked 'from santa'. He gets a kick out of it...

[Melissa]

We did Santa and I will with my kids. I have very fond memories of listening, and hearing, Rudolph on my roof! When I was a pre-teen, my mother used to tell me I was absolutely beautiful. Looking back at my middle school pictures, I have no doubt that it was a lie. But, it made me feel good and happy, so I thank her for doing that. Santa made me feel good and happy too. Both were a lie, but neither one caused any harm...only brought me smiles.

[BAC]

Did anyone, as a child, experience lasting adverse psychological effects from believing in Santa?

Probably... I remember finding it very strange that santa could get into our house. My house had no chimney, so my parents told me he had a key to the house. I also remember trying to stay awake as long as possible to hear him, but the jig was up one year when I heard my parents going up back up and down the stairs one xmas eve... ah the disappointment!

What!? You mean there's no Santa!?

hahahhaah

[skibum515]

I have incredibly fond memories of Santa, and my parents took it to a pretty large degree, they had Santa only wrapping paper, bows/ribbons and tags. They also had one of their friends write out the tags so that we couldn't recognize their handwriting.

I loved Santa and while I knew the one at the mall was not a real one (He was one of the helpers) I had no animosity when I found out that he wasn't real. I was the oldest so we kept it going for my younger brother, and even though we are both beyond college now, we still will get presents from Santa. DH's mom gives us presents from Santa as well I'll sometimes give DH a present from Santa if it's something I know he really wants but we can't really afford, I'll get it anyway, but it's not from me then. hehe.

I still love Santa! I'm such a kid at Christmas time