Should You Teach Kids About 'Santa Claus'?

[Minnie d'Arc]

Latest post of the previous page:

And, I'm learning Italian because..?

[Midieval Fantasy]

...it's nice to think there IS a jolly, large lady who brings presents come the appropriate time of year...

That would be Befana, of course! Best of all, Befana is a broomstick-riding WITCH! How gothic is that?

-- Nephele

I think I'd rather teach my kids about her than about Santa...

[Tishkaminx]

We've started doing 'special stuff'(making cookies, brownies, watching holiday specific movies) around the holidays so that there's the family bonding. We watch Rudolph and the kids really like it. They are becoming more *aware* of the world around them. To me, not believing didn't take away any of the 'specialness'. It was still just as nice to get awesome presents, drink hot cocoa and tear into presents on Christmas mourning. To me the best memories were just being with my family.

Thats sounds just about perfect to me.: )

[Wolfmammy]

...it's nice to think there IS a jolly, large lady who brings presents come the appropriate time of year...

That would be Befana, of course! Best of all, Befana is a broomstick-riding WITCH! How gothic is that?

-- Nephele

There was a girl in one of my doll groups who was Italian and made a Befana doll.

-- Sat Nov 20, 2010 8:00 am --

We've started doing 'special stuff'(making cookies, brownies, watching holiday specific movies) around the holidays so that there's the family bonding. We watch Rudolph and the kids really like it. They are becoming more *aware* of the world around them. To me, not believing didn't take away any of the 'specialness'. It was still just as nice to get awesome presents, drink hot cocoa and tear into presents on Christmas mourning. To me the best memories were just being with my family.

Thats sounds just about perfect to me.: )

Holidays are about family, to us. Especially since we pretty much squandered most of the time that my grandmother was alive with work or not wanting to drive 45 minutes every year. How stupid is that? We've been realizing lately that my husband's grandmother is not going to be around much longer(1-3 more years tops with her declining health) so we're going to try to spend more of the holidays with her. Yes, it's not fair, but you can't undo the past. If you could I might not have one.

[donutte]

I grew up Christian (in name only, my family was never religious in my lifetime), and I was told about Santa. Not sure when I realized that Santa was really a fantasy and idea rather than a real entity. I would not go so far as to say it upset me though. I don't think I cared less when the time came, to be honest.

Funny conversation I'll share, from a guy that I know that is Muslim, and this is the first holiday season his daughter was in school.

Daughter: My friend was telling me about Santa bringing her presents for Christmas, and how he brought her presents last year, and she got a lot of cool stuff!
Al: Oh, she did, did she?
Daughter: Yes she did! Is Santa going to bring me presents this year?
Al: *explains that they are Muslim and the difference between that and Christianity and therefore do not celebrate Christmas*
Daughter: Oh, ok... but is Santa still gonna bring me presents?

The holidays are about being with family to me. I converted to Judaism ten years ago so I don't celebrate Christmas as a religious thing, but I do get together with my family because they do celebrate it. Not for the sake of religion though. I think deep down, for a lot of people, the holidays are about being with family more than anything else.

[scarlettdraelynkhar]

I'm with Prez on this one.

This will be Toby's second Christmas, and one of the traditions we began last year and will continue this year is the tradition of allowing one gift (plus the stocking) from Santa. Why? Because I still believe in Santa.

Of course I don't believe that there's a fat guy who lives at the North Pole with a bunch of elves who make toys all year for him to deliver in one night while driving a flying sleigh guided by reindeer, one of which has a glowing red nose. But I do believe in the spirit of imagination and giving, and I want Toby to always believe in those things. One day, he will learn that there isn't an actual Santa Claus. On that day, he may, like me, understand that the story of the man we call Santa is simply another story like that of the three bears or the books he has been read. Or, he may be a little upset Either way, we'll deal with it and continue the tradition of making a small part of our Christmas fantastical. Personally, I feel that too much of the magic and wonder of childhood is yanked away all too soon anyway. I'd rather preserve what I can for as long as I can and teach Toby that whether he's dreaming of a whimsical old man who enjoys giving gifts to children in exchange for good behavior and some chocolate chip cookies or of the most fascinating job he can think of having when he grows up, it's okay to dream as big as his imagination will allow and to believe that all things are possible.

[Midieval Fantasy]

After Nephele's post I am still completely honest in my thoughts that I will teach my kids about Befana rather than Santa....

[Blackavar]

You can tell stories about Santa/Father Christmas I suppose...telling a story doesn't mean they have to believe in it. It'd be like if on Christmas Eve, you read them a story about Father Christmas instead of, oh, say, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Of course, they could end up thinking "Ooh Santa's coming" *rubs chin* Dunno really. I don't intend to have kids so its nothing I've considered before. But I do remember I wasn't specifically told about things that I believe in as a kid (god, the boogeyman etc), I picked them up elsewhere.

You could always tell them about Sandy Claws

[SisterSandy]

I was broken-hearted when i found out the truth of Santa Claus. I had a very vivid imagination, at halloween i swore I saw witches flying in the sky in front of the moon, and I watched for the reindeer for hours on christmas eve.

When we had children we decided that Santa was gonna be pretend, not real. We told our children that St, Nicholas was a wealthy man who gave gifts to the children of his town in order to celebrate Christs birth. They went along with it for years, and knew enough no to tell little children the truth.

I hate it when people tell the story of santa claus as almost the same as the story of the birth of Jesus. now thats confusing to kids. I was rather relieved to find out the belsnickle wasn't real though.

http://www.sunflowers-dragonflies.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/belsnickle.jpg

imagine him visiting you at night before you went to bed?

[LegendGirl]

The Krampus

I'm guessing nobody's teaching their children about this guy!

[Lachrymose]

Well, you could teach your kids to laugh at kids who believe in Santa.

[Lootukset]

I will tell my kids(when I get any ) the story about him, but I will not make them belive he´s real. I like the storys, the feeling of it but probably I will focus more at the heathen ways.

[donutte]

Wonder how many people go into the physics of Santa's ride

-- Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:07 pm --

The Krampus

I'm guessing nobody's teaching their children about this guy!

From what I read, it sounds like this may have started as more of a Pagan ritual, rather than a Christian one. Interesting. Then again, some of the traditions of Christmas (such as the Christmas Tree) are derived from Paganism, which I also find to be interesting (even though many Christians I know have completely denied this).

[Midieval Fantasy]

Wonder how many people go into the physics of Santa's ride

-- Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:07 pm --

The Krampus

I'm guessing nobody's teaching their children about this guy!

From what I read, it sounds like this may have started as more of a Pagan ritual, rather than a Christian one. Interesting. Then again, some of the traditions of Christmas (such as the Christmas Tree) are derived from Paganism, which I also find to be interesting (even though many Christians I know have completely denied this).

Christmas and Easter and Halloween are all derived from Pagan holidays actually. It is very interesting to read about, I need to get some books on the histories and such.

[Wolfmammy]

Wonder how many people go into the physics of Santa's ride

-- Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:07 pm --

The Krampus

I'm guessing nobody's teaching their children about this guy!

From what I read, it sounds like this may have started as more of a Pagan ritual, rather than a Christian one. Interesting. Then again, some of the traditions of Christmas (such as the Christmas Tree) are derived from Paganism, which I also find to be interesting (even though many Christians I know have completely denied this).

Denying the truth doesn't change it. My great-grandmother(pentacostle preacher) used to denounce the practice of having trees at xmas as an 'evil, pagan practice'.

[nachtvlinder]

After Nephele's post I am still completely honest in my thoughts that I will teach my kids about Befana rather than Santa....

I don't know what you should do, but - from a distance - Santa Claus seems to have big influence on American culture. Maybe you should that also into account in your decision, as your children will learn about Santa Claus from kindergarten, school, other children and their families, or even your grandmother. And wonder why Santa never visits them, perhaps. That is not to say that you cannot decide not to teach them about Santa and teach them about Befana for example, but maybe that is something that you want to think about making your decision.