Lying to kids about Santa

Do you try to convince your kids that there's a man living in the arctic, producing and distributing toys on Christmas? If you don't have kids now will you do it when you do? Does anyone resent their parents for lying to you about Santa? I'm curious how people feel about this.

 

If I had children, I do not think I would lie. Personally, I do not celebrate Christmas.

I simply hold my breath until New Year's, which is a holiday I can truly identify with...universal, active, and secular; when I am allowed to dance, have sex, play sports, go anywhere I please, meet up with anyone I please, and, especially, buy a hot dog at the next-door deli.

 

I don't have kids and I don't plan on ever having any, but I have thought about this and no, I would not do the whole Santa spiel. I feel that telling kids about Santa does nothing but promote the GIMME GIMME GIMME PRESENTSSSS! attitude and doesn't do any good to teach kids about sharing and good will. If I had kids, I would still try to give them a good Christmas, but I would like to focus more on the important themes of Christmas/holidays and incorporate sharing, giving, gratitude, helping those who are less fortunate or in need, surrounding yourself with loved ones, and that Christmas is about more than just Xboxes and iPads... Ok, now I sound like a freaking Family Channel holiday special, but... I think I made my point.

ETA: I don't resent my parents for doing the Santa thing, I just wonder why? It's such a stupid, petty little thing that ends up meaning nothing in the end and the child gains nothing from it... instead, why not spend the time instilling in your child early on those good qualities mentioned above?

 

I'm not cruel enough to take a away part of somebody's childhood, so yes, I will lie to them. It made me happy, I wouldn't want to be the six year old explaining commercialism on the playground.

 

Yeah, children have to socialize with other children and in this day and age it is so easy for a child to be ostracised (?) by his/her peers, let's not let it be about whether or not Santa exists!

 

How would it be taking away if they never had it in the first place? I understand that it made you happy, but there are millions of other amazing, more meaningful things in life to make children happy. Personally, I smelled a rat from the very beginning and constantly asked questions that required a logical answer (we don't have a chimney and the door is locked, how does he get in? how does he get to every house around the world in 8 hours? etc...) that no adults could provide so by the time I was 6 I came to the conclusion on my own that it was all a hoax... It actually kind of concerns me that more kids don't start doing the same type of questioning and critical thinking early on. Perhaps it can partially explain why so many people my age and older just don't use their fucking heads

 

I never believed in Santa. I don't think that I was even aware as a kid that something like Santa was suppose to exist. I mean not ''exist'', but you get the point.
We never even did the whole presents under the tree thing and I don't really mind it at all. Maybe it's a different culture thing, I don't know.

It doesn't mean that I didn't have a childhood or that it sucked or that my parents are cheap and evil, it just means that it was probably slightly different. But not necessarily worse.

And no, I don't think I'll be teaching my kids to belive in Santa.

 

We are similar in age and I use my head, that's a little blase to this discussion. I am happy you made up your own mind, i'm glad of that in fact, so maybe you should just let each child do the same- you are arguing two different points here.

You might feel different if your mum sat you down at that age and told you, 'it's all fake', you might be sitting here telling me you wished you had believed in it but it was all plucked away from you.

For the record, I believed in Santa Claus, not all of us 'smell a rat'.

 

I don't think presenting fairy tales to kids as straight up truth is necessarily letting them make up their own minds, either. I understand your point, but still respectfully disagree

 

The first year I went to school some kid told me Santa Clause wasn't real... Theres always going to be that one kid that drops the bomb.

 

Not me.

It was the most happiest time of the year for me!! Not just because of the presents, or Santa. It was just magical for me.

Both of my grandparents went all out with lights on the house, and real trees with more crap on them then you could shake a stick at. Sometimes us kids helped decorate the tree. Some of us made our own ornaments to put on the tree.

I had two Christmases, growing up. Christmas eve at my dads parents house, and Christmas day at my moms parents house (a more religious themed one there).

I do remember trying to stay up so I could hear Santa come on Christmas eve. Listening for the reindeers landing on the roof. I always fell asleep, but was never disappointed.

When I figured out that Santa wasn't real, it didn't break my heart, or make me feel betrayed. Maybe it was explained well to me, I don't remember.

But I never lost the spirit of it. To this day, I'm happy with those memories and wouldn't change a thing. My son had fun with it as well when he was little.

I feel sad for anyone who grew up without Santa Claus.

My 2 cents

 

I don't understand this thread.
What lie is everyone talking about?

 

Jeez...not this again.

My older kids no longer believe and they don't care in the slightest. It was a magical time, something fun for them that they outgrew.

I believed when I was little, and I never thought of it as a lie. I also believed in fairies and magic and used my imagination when I played. Holy crap, that's so wrong, I wish someone had stopped me and put me straight at the grand old age of 5...

I always thought that death was like sleeping when I was a kid. I guess kindergartens should start having class trips to the morgue, so kids can learn early why they should look both ways crossing the street. Why should they be allowed to be kids? It's just so humiliating to find out later that people lied to you about death and how gory it really is.

 

I guess I would. I used to believed in the "Christ Child" when I was younger and that turned Christmas into an almost magical evening. My mom left some "angel's hair" on the windowsill so I was convinced there HAD to be SOMETHING.
I want the same thing for my child .

 

I used to get into fights with kids when I was little because they tried to tell me that Santa wasn't real.

I was in 2nd grade when my school showed me a video saying that St. Nicholas died a long time ago and Santa was made up. I was completely heartbroken.

For me though, the entire season was completely magical. I want my kids to feel the same thing I did when I was younger.

 

I think Santa is a great way to get very young children a reason to look forward to Christmas, but if they asked me straight up if Santa was real or not, I wouldn't lie to them. If they ask, that means they're looking for a reasonable answer, and I'm not going to deny that just because it was a magical time when I was kid. I figured out young, as well, that Santa couldn't possibly exist. It didn't break my heart, the only thing that did was that my mother tried to force it on me: Always referring to Santa, when I knew he didn't exist. I valued the truth and she valued some sort of feeling that she once got from believing Santa was real: nothing wrong with either perspective, but we clashed.

That being said, I would probably go along with the facade for as long as it suited my children. I see no reason to expose them to Santa only to immediately turn to them and say "Oh, by the way, all that you have been exposed to is LIE to get you kids to be good all year and to give you a kind-hearted parental figure that you can look up to." Nah, let their imaginations go wild, it's all good.

And of course I would teach them the more important message about Christmas: giving, sharing, loving, and all that good stuff. That is what I would emphasize in my home.

 

We don't tell them because santa is fun for little kids, then after they are about 5 or 6 they finally figure out there is no santa and they now know that you are a liar. It's one of life's first mind fucks.

 

yeah this.. i will, when i have kids, tell them about santa.
Its something for them to get excited about, i'm not goin to take that away from them!!!

 

For people who use the argument that kids don't know what they are missing if they don't have it to begin with are not taking into consideration that MOST children believe in Santa up until about 5 or 6 years old. I think I'd much rather explain to my kids that Santa is just a wonderful idea and tradition that has carried on throughout the years, more a symbol than an actual person, than I would want to try to explain to my kid why Santa visits all his/her friends, but leaves him/her out of the picture. I don't remember being devastated or disappointed at all when I found out Santa wasn't real, I just said, "Oh well...okay, then," and went back to bed. The excitement and the happiness I experienced every Christmas until my brother was old enough to understand Santa wasn't "real" is not something I want to take away from my own kids.

 

meh, i'm indifferent. if i ever have kids, i'll probably just do what my wife tells me in regards to this issue.

i believed in santa when i was really young, but i had pretty much figured out that he just doesn't make sense by the time i was old enough to remember now. i never resented my parents, although i also never understood what the point of the myth was supposed to be.

did you think an angel flew into your windowpane like a bird?