Do you teach your children to believe in Santa? Do you believe it to be harmless fun or ethically irresponsible? (Or other...) Please explain your reasoning.
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ANSWERS: 8
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I was never brought up believing in Santa, and I think that its not really necessary to teach children about him. You could just explain that we're the ones buying gifts because we love them. They'd learn something about sharing, compassion and community. They'll start to give you gifts in return.
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It's harmless. I don't even see how it could be construed as ethically irresponsible.
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I dont have kids but this is what I'll do when I have some: I'll tell them that no fat, old man that watches little girls while they sleep secretly falls out from our chimney and drops off gifts to us that only God knows where they have been but instead we will say it comes from us, with some help. I dont intend to lie to them, even though it will raise their view of the world because I remember when I was told he wasn't real...oh boy was that was heartbreaking ;)
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I disdain the practice. But I also accept that the harm is minimal. Girly doesn't even want to accept that her eleven year old son knows better. Don't tell her but the eight year old does, too. Shhhh...
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My parents never forced Santa on us. I'm actually glad they didn't. It means we are worth the truth. The truth is something that Santa can never give me, which sucks, because the truth is the best present of all.
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I think kids find Christmas more exciting when they believe in Santa when I have kids I will definately be telling them about santa. They will probably pick it up from friends anyway
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I guess families have to do what is right for them but personally I don't think it hurts anything if kids have the fun of believing in Santa Claus for awhile. I don't think that Parents have to break down and tell them out of the clear blue that there isn't one either. Smart kids will figure it out for themselves eventually, any way and they will come to you and ask if there is really a Santa. That's when you can have a simple honest conversation about the tradition of Santa and why people carry on with the tradition even though it isn't real. I knew when I was 5 or 6 that there wasn't a Santa just by watching my parents. I knew it was them that were putting the gifts under the tree. Did it scar me emotionally or make me sad or mad, No. Even after knowing there isn't really a Santa, I still had fun with the Santa idea at Christmas. I know kids who have parents who don't let them have the fun of Santa or let them celebrate Halloween and they feel very left out of the Holiday fun that the see other kids enjoying. It makes them different.
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Well, with our kids we told them about Santa but in such a way that they were not sure whether he was real or not. We had already taught them to question what they were told. That way they could decide whether or not they wanted to believe in him. My daughter (now grown up) told me yesterday that one year they made sure they stayed awake because they had decided that it was really us who left the presents, and wanted to be sure.
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