The first of December kicked off with the Odyssey break-up/Christmas celebration on the theme 'old, new, borrowed, blue.' Here's one of the better bon-bon jokes:
Two goldfish were in their tank.
One turned to the other and said,
"You man the guns, I'll drive."
Oh, I love a good pun. In other news, I am pleased to announce the very first of my weekly (or at least hopefully-regular) controversial questions! As we have just begun December, my favourite month, and are rapidly hurtling (tautology?) towards Christmas, why not have a Christmas-themed question?
The question: What would you tell your kids about Santa?
(please comment!)
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15 comments:
The same as what any other person would tell their kids.
I see no harm in it, eventually we all grow out of it anyway. The belief in Santa, that is.
Like any other child hood pastime, there comes a moment when we naturally decide to let things go, make our own descisions and realise the truth for ourselves.
Sure, telling a kid about Santa could lead them to disappointment, or to some sadness - but so could any descision that they make throughout their lives.
As for growing out of it, I don't know many 20 year olds that still play with Barbie dolls, 'My Little Pony', Transformers or Match Box cars. We grew out of them. I know it's probably not completely relevant to the topic. I have a tendancy to rant.
Feel free to discuss if you find anything of interest...or if you want to come out of the closet about your Barbie dolls ;-)
The Sims is equivalent to playing with Barbies... Most videogames seem to me to be grown up versions of the same childhood games and we had when we were little!
I guess I'm not really a Santa-nazi, but I think it's a sticky topic. Some fanatics would say you're not Christian if you feed lies to your children (these same fanatics tend to become so secluded from the world they become almost usless, but that's another story). I can honestly say I've never met anyone 'scarred' from the Santa-lie-incident... are they really out there? Do people give up other beliefs along with Santa, as a direct result of "the lie" or for other reasons? There is a sad number of kids from Christian homes who grow up and give up "their parents' religion"... But could a simple little lie really contribute to that? Then again, lying is addressed by one of the commandments, so should be avoided completely. What's the difference between lying and pretending???(You're not the only one who can rant :P)
At this point in my life (very far from kids, and hence naive!), I'm thinking I'll tell my kids Santa as any other make-believe bedtime story, but not as a fantasy-come-reality. Too fanatical?
I agree with what you've said.
I really don't see a problem with Santa, or kids believing in him (perhaps I'm just not looking hard enough?).
Anyway, what people tell their kids probably comes down to a lot of personal choice, and then forcing those opinions on a child.
Growing up is hard enough, without heaping on conflict with peers etc, at school. I think there is potentially more scarring to be done that way than through 'the lie'.
Also, I think people just tend to rip apart an idea to a point where it becomes unrecognisable, taking each and every interpretation literally. When the pieces are re-built, however, it tells a different story. Kind of like chemical compositions, I suppose.
You can take Hydrogen and look at that, and it's exactly what you have. You can take Oxygen and also look at it, but when you combine the elements, you get water. This is an example where the whole is different to the individual.
You can do this with Christmas, you can take the individual aspects/traditions/rituals, work out the 'meanings' and then reassemble it - but you'll end up with a different picture from what you started with. I picture that you might not like, or reflect the reasons behind why YOU do Christmas.
Then there's the reasons behind doing it, why would you tell a child about Santa? I don't know, but I do that kids love the idea of him, and the fact that this tradition has perpetuated like it has suggests that there isn't any really significant impact on mental health (But, I'm no expert :)).
Certainly an interesting topic.
Anyway, that was "The Rant II"
I dont think i'd tell them that Santa was real and then untell them later. But obviously one would need to talk about the santa-phenonmiah.
So Trav, were you deeply scarred when you found out that Santa wasn't real?
PS Welcome to blogasphere Steff.
If I had kids I'd tell them that St Nicholas was real, and that he was an affluent Turkish man who gave up his wealth to help poor people.
Good points, all.
I definitely agree with the whole 'peer conflict' thing, Tim. What I don't want is kids that go around 'spoiling Christmas' for everyone else's kids or being labelled a 'weird' or 'fanatical' family! You don't make much of a difference that way. I'm not about a Santa-free Christmas, but an appropriate-Santa Christmas.
Kids are pretty understanding, though. Couldn't you tell them not to tell other kids the truth about Santa, just like you tell them to tell other kids about Jesus? Same principle, isn't it?
A further thought: I suspect the myth of Santa Claus was perpetuated by parents who wanted to bless their children but didn't want to 'spoil' them. My parents generation were very worried about 'spoiling' their children. Weird really, there seemed to be this idea around that giving a gift to your child for no reason other them you loved them would encourage them to expect gifts all the time and therefore 'spoil' them. So Santa Claus solved the problem! Now you could give gifts to your children without spoiling them!
Interesting how we have also perpetuated the wrong idea that God would not simply bless us for no other reason than He loves us. As a result I think we often miss God blessings simply because we don't expect or look for them.
And on a personal note: As a kid I really enjoyed the concept of Santa Claus and so continued it with my own kids because I didn’t want them to miss out on the fun.
I wasn't deeply scared...but Santa never meant very much to me. I'm sure there are many other ways to Bless Children
my brother and i were never told that santa was real, but that we could believe in him if we wanted to. we were always told the truth about him and i think that that is what i would do.
I often wondered why Santa's handwriting was the same as my mother's, and how unlike everyone else, he always spelled my name right...
Basically it is lying to your children, so how are they to believe you in the future on other topics (the trust is gone).
Basically Christmas is a farce, only celebrating Jesus's birth is the only reason but then again you should do that everyday.
So in a word Christmas is silly time for over spending and getting into debt.
The is only one good thing about Christmas which is the time you spend with your family.
Interesting point of view there Charles.
So, do you trust your parents? I know I trust mine, even though the blatantly lied to me. Probably more than once.
We've all lied, and yet we still trust people, this would lead me to think that there probably isn't a single lie that we could tell that would warrant a child to hold a lifetime grudge. My memory really isn't that good....
As for Christmas being a farce. We can celebrate Jesus' birthday, and even leave that for 1 day of the year - I mean, don't we even celebrate our OWN birthdays?? Sure, we can celebrate it every day, but that would become cumbersome, routine would kick in and it would quickly lose all meaning. This is a day we can look forward to, a day to reminisce and remember.
Yes, Christmas time is full of spending and debt - but so is the rest of the year, in this 'more is better' world. Our constant pursuit to make our life complete through purchasing things is what drives us to debt. In the end, Christmas isn't the cause for debt - bad financial management is!
I would rather my kids know that Santa isn't real sooner rather than later.
The reason for this is so that I can avoid falling into the trap of them finding out that several high profile characters aren't real, such as Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, and then having them assume that people like Jesus and Moses fall into that same category.
Perhaps playing 'make-believe Santa' would work? Young kids love to pretend to be all sorts of things that they know they're really not, and at the end of the day they are fully aware that they are in fact not a horse or a puppy or a cowboy, that they're not in outer space or under the ocean, or that their toys are not really alive. Playing 'the Santa game' would be a similar thing, wouldn't it?
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