Santa?

[elizabeth]

Originally Posted 1/4/2006

So...what do you think is best? Play the "Santa Game" or tell the truth from the start?

[jeremy]

Originally posted 1/4/2006

As far as I can remember I grew up with the truth. I think my parents told me that it was just a fun story that many people liked to act out. Personally I don't think I missed out on anything as a kid, Santa-wise; I was too busy playing out in the real world. (What Michelle says does seem to ring true though)

I think my favorite memory about Santa Claus came in my teen years; it was a psuedo-scientific email about the possibility of Santa's task. It basically stated it would be impossible for Santa to travel to so many kids' houses all in one night, even provided with a sleigh that traveled at the speed of light (186,000 miles/sec). I laughed so hard. BTW, if anybody has a copy or ever gets a copy of that email, sent it to me.

[Josh]

Originally posted 1/4/2006

Wow, it took about a day or two for your thread title to sink in. Heheh

[elizabeth]

Originally posted 1/4/2006

When growing up, I was told the "Santa Story". On Christmas day he brought me toys. This was great fun for me, and made many fun memories of Christmas. My parents were not very religious and so we did not attend church (except for on Easter). I did not know about Christ's birthday being Christmas day. When I reached between 6-8 I had figured out that Santa was not real (kids at school are ruthless). This was really sad for me (I cried). I was afraid/ashamed to tell my mom that I knew the truth (Santa was really her)and I also figured out by this time that the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy were not real (I was devastated). I do not remember feeling distrust from my mom because of this but I remember feeling like I wouldn't get as many presents because Santa was no longer in the picture. We then started a tradition of watching the 10 commandments (every Christmas on TV). This made me realize what the real meaning of Christmas was.
I struggle with this a lot, because I want my girls to have the same fun memories of Christmas,Easter and tooth fairy as I did. These are all fun dream like characters that children seem to love. I just feel like I would be taking a little bit of the fun out of childhood by not sharing this stories with my children. Like loosing a little bit of American history.

Just like in our society where we are so worried about being "politically correct". Christmas break is no longer, it is now "winter break". Easter break is now "spring break" and so on. I feel like by not passing down the tradition of these events, all our children will hear of Christmas and Santa is in a book. Loosing the fun and spirit of the actual event.

In some ways Christmas has just become a shopping time of the year, finding Santa coincidentally only at the mall. In reality (I know I don't ) who waits till Christmas to buy their child that special toy?

I don't want my children to fill guilt or mistrust from me for not telling them the truth. I also don't want them to miss out on these very special events/memories that these holiday/events bring.

Even to this day we still have presents that we give each other that are from Santa.

[Josh]

Originally posted 1/4/2006

Santa= Satan

It's obvious, isn't it? Don't be fooled by the arrangement of the letters.



Just kidding. I can't stand it when people find Satan in every nook and cranny and every bowlful of jelly.

[sarah]

Originally posted 1/4/2006

Disclaimer: I don't have kids, so I'm not sure how this works, but I did hear something once that made me really ponder this question.
Someone I used to attend church with once told me that she and her husband decided that they would tell their kids the truth from the start. Their reasoning was that if they let their children believe that Santa, Easter Bunny, etc. existed and they later found out that these figures don't exist the kids might mistrust what their parents had told them about Jesus since He is not tangible. And how could they expect their children to believe that something intangible is the truth when they were misled about tangible icons.

Does anyone remember finding out that Santa, etc. were not real?? How did that impact you??

[Josh]

Originally posted 1/4/2006

I don't remember ever really believing in Santa, but I'm not sure why. My parents did at some point read a children's book with me that was all about the real St. Nicholas and how he was a real Christian believer who exemplified Christ and the true spirit of the season. Santa was just a fun 'pretend' thing to us.
I also encountered "Father Christmas" in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia). Lewis uses him as a character who brings gifts that aid the kids on their quest. He is a servant of the great lion Aslan who represents Christ in the analogy. I really liked that way of presenting him- as a servant of God not some almost God-like toy dispenser.

Rose grew up believing in Santa for a time and it didn't seem to do her any harm. If anyone has had a hard time 'believing' in the unseen, it'd probably be me, not her. Skeptics get started early, apparently. So I guess there are no hard and fast rules, although I would tend to agree with the sentiments you all have shared

[Josh]

Interesting looking back on this discussion. Anything new to add?

[brandonstabley]

my parents lied to me my whole life, and they played that santa skit off quite well. When I finally realized it was a lie i wondered why would my parents hold on to such a lie even to discredit themselves from getting a "thank you for the gift daddy." Just to gain instant gratification for their child that will not last and may even create a separation within the parent/child relationship. As long as I keep focus for what my future holds for me and those around me, when I have a family and/or child I may lie to him once in a while but I assure everyone I will not blind him from reality and logical thought.

[michelle]

I'm not sure what happened to my original post, but I'm happy to repost on the topic.

I once knew a family that decided they did not want to let their kids believe in Santa. They were concerned that if they told their kids about Santa and they discovered that Santa is not real, that their kids might believe that Jesus is also not real since their parents told them about Him. They did not want to their kids to question their truthfulness.

Brandon, I'm sorry your parents lied to you. It sounds like the Santa story was just the start of a lot for you. I can definitely see the validity in the idea of being honest up front. I think it can be a fun idea for kids, but I think that depending on the kid, it can have a long lasting effect on children.

[Josh]

Welcome, Brandon!

Yeah, we're trying to sort all this out with Justus at this point. The hardest thing is that for most kids the dividing line between fantasy and fact is very blury... even on things that you don't even try to "trick" them on. I mean, for example, at this point the difference between dragons and dinosaurs to Justus is almost non-existent. And I'm okay with that for now.

But I do want him to know from a relatively early age that Christianity is not just built on wishful thinking and made-up fantastical tales, but rather it is rooted in real history, or, as Tolkien and Lewis would put it, "myth became fact".

[b]

Reading the post from Sarah about not having children made me chuckle out loud. Now we do have to figure out what to tell Lindsay.

And the anagrams are pretty amusing also. Does anyone ever go to wordsmith.org for the anagram machine? You just type in a word or phrase and it gives you back all of the angagrams within the parameters you specified. I tried "Aletheia Christian Fellowship", but got back "Piratical heathenish lowlifes"! Not very helpfull!

[Josh]

"Piratical heathenish lowlifes"

I'd say that's probably an accurate description of at least half of us, right, red and anne?

[michelle]

Pretty much, Captain Cash. Avast ye or ye shall walk de planks.

[rose]

watch it Cap'n John, Bloody Anne and Red Ethel are anything but lowlifes...

...don't mess with the Rackham sisters...or you'll have to do that plank thingy that Red Ethel talked about.

[Josh]

So, one of Justus' friends spilled the beans about Santa. He never asked before whether Santa was real or not, so we just kinda let him 'float'. So now I'm preparing 'the talk'.

Prayers please, because I want to get this as right as possible (the difference between pretend and reality, the reality of Jesus, as well as the importance and value of myth*)


* yeah, I know, he's 4. so what?

[Josh]

So, things with Justus turned out well. It seems he was more upset about the possibility of not being able to put cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve than whether or not Santa was real or not. In other words, he's fine putting cookies out for a pretend santa, just don't mess with the putting cookies out routine.