Is Christmas Ruined Forever?

[GoetzManor]

So I got into an argument with my mother the other day over how my wife and I want to teach our son about Christmas. My wife and I both believe that my son should grow up knowing that Santa Claus is no more real a person than say, Spider Man. She believes that Christmas won't be as enjoyable for him if he knows that Santa doesn't exist. I'm sory but I just don't think that's true.

I'm well aware that we have a long road ahead of us when he starts going to school, but we stand by our decision to teach him that Santa is not the "reason for the season". We want to teach him that Christmas is not about getting gifts and things like that, but rather it is about family and appreciating what you have.

That's not to say that he won't be getting presents because I know I love spoiling the heck out of the little guy, but I've felt for far too long that Christmas has become far too commercialized and people have lost the true meaning of this time of the year.

Am I completely crazy by trying to change things up or am I the only one who feels like Christmas has lost its sentiment?

Proud dad's photo reference:

 

[Paisley]

It's probably a bigger deal for the adults than it is for the kids. I don't remember enjoying Christmas any less after I figured out Santa Claus was a fairy tale.

It might be wise to tell your son when he's older that he won't make many friends by telling them Santa doesn't exist. His friends should figure it out in their own time.

 

[HudsonHawk]

At this age, he doesn't really understand Santa. By the time he is six or seven, he won't believe anyway. I sort of remember believing in Santa, but I don't remember a moment when I figured it out either. I just sort of remember "believing" and "not believing". It's a very short time of really believing anyway. At any rate, my fondest Christmas memories as a kid were well past the age of believing in Santa so I wouldn't say not believing from the start will necessarily inhibit any Christmas enjoyment for him.

 

[Edward]

It might be wise to tell your son when he's older that he won't make many friends by telling them Santa doesn't exist. His friends should figure it out in their own time.

I believe the parents of young kids who do that are equally unpopular with other parents!

 

[Paisley]

"You can't fight faith with facts." That's good to know at any age.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Tell him that Santa is just as real as Spiderman.

An old friend taught his children that Santa was a symbol of the good things of Christmas and Christianity, not a flesh and blood person. I don't know when he worked this out, but the children are now in their sixties and seventies. It didn't seem to ruin their enjoyment of Christmas.

There are people considerably older than your son, who talk and act as if Spiderman were real. If pressed they would admit he is a fictional character, then go back to discussing what Spiderman would do in a certain situation.

So, does Spiderman exist or not? I suppose it depends on your definition of existing. He is more real to a lot of people, than some of the flesh and blood people in the world.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If all Christmas is to a kid is tearing into a pile of stuff under the tree that'll be broken and forgotten by Valentine's Day, knowing or not knowing the truth about S. Claus isn't going to make much of a difference. The best way to inculcate the "real spirit of Christmas" in a child is to teach them early on that what you give is more important than what you get. Involve him as soon as you can in the process of choosing presents for friends and family -- not just buying stuff, but talking about why some particular gift would be appropriate for some particular person. When he gets older, involve him more and more in those decisions, to the point where he's actively doing his own giving.

I figured out Santa wasn't real when I noticed the "Mammoth Mart" price tags on the presents. And then I noticed the local TV Santa was also the same guy who played Bozo. Nobody needed to tell me, I had it all sorted out by the time I started school.

 

[31 Model A]

I found out Santa didn't exist in 1968 when he delivered spam and powdered eggs to us on Christmas day in Nam. No Santa could be that cruel......later we found out if was the Mess Sergeant.

 

[scotrace]

My daughters are 21 and 17. If any of you people tell them Santa isn't real, I'll bust your chops.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

My gawd man. Much of a small child's enjoyment is involved with all kinds of imaginative wonderment. Story books....Peter Pan..happy tales of fantasy. Don't take that away simply because of an extreme position of your critical adulthood reasoning. He'll learn soon enough about the real world and how to deal with it with your forthcoming instruction,of course..but allow him those precious memories of youth. It doesn't last long.
HD

 

[buelligan]

Charlie Brown has been complaining about the commercialization of Christmas and people loosing the reason for the season since 1965, unfortunately I don't think you're gong to make any waves in societies actions by telling your son Santa isn't real.

 

[Big Man]

... allow him those precious memories of youth. It doesn't last long.
HD

That says it all.

 

[Benny Holiday]

I found out Santa didn't exist in 1968 when he delivered spam and powdered eggs to us on Christmas day in Nam. No Santa could be that cruel......later we found out if was the Mess Sergeant.

:eusa_clap:eusa_clap :eeek:

 

[Benny Holiday]

I'm definitely with HoosierDaddy, couldn't have put it better.

 

[Feraud]

My gawd man. Much of a small child's enjoyment is involved with all kinds of imaginative wonderment. Story books....Peter Pan..happy tales of fantasy. Don't take that away simply because of an extreme position of your critical adulthood reasoning. He'll learn soon enough about the real world and how to deal with it with your forthcoming instruction,of course..but allow him those precious memories of youth. It doesn't last long.
HD

I absolutely agree. We lament the loss of our children's youth and innocence but parents are in such a damn rush to ruin it.

Let the children enjoy Xmas.

 

[sheeplady]

I believe strongly in the sentiment of Santa, in the sense of he loves all children and wants to bring them something nice to give them a little happiness at Christmas. I believe that the importance of Santa is not that you get a lot of important, shiny, expensive toys; but that someone you don't know cares about you enough to provide you with happiness.

I think that Santa, if done correctly, teaches children about charity. The story of Santa *is* about charity to me.

I have a daughter who is almost two. Santa gives her a small gift every year under the tree and some things for her stocking. She also is being raised with the awareness that many families do without at Christmas and that some children will have nothing for Christmas, not even a tree. She joins me in picking out a toys-for-tots toy every year; next year she will be responsible for picking out the toy within the budget with my help.

We do the "Cookies and Milk" for Santa, the separate wrapping paper, etc. I don't know what her questions will be when she tries to reconcile "Santa" with "not all kids get gifts." But I hope that she leaves her younger childhood with a sense that all children deserve something under the tree and a desire to keep the charitable acts of Christmas alive. If she leaves with that sense, then yes, Santa has served his purpose.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I figured it out at age 5. The Wright Brothers accomplished the first controlled heavier than air flight in 1903. If that were so, Santa didn't exist. Seemed pretty simple.

My view is to never actively represent that Santa is real to kids. I neither encouraged nor discouraged my kids to believe in Santa, and vowed to answer the question honestly if directed to me. What I really dislike is kids faking belief in Santa Claus predicated upon the hope that they'll get more presents. Talk about aiding and abetting duplicity!

 

[31 Model A]

I figured it out at age 5. The Wright Brothers accomplished the first controlled heavier than air flight in 1903. If that were so, Santa didn't exist. Seemed pretty simple.

!

Santa got his patent from Aladdin and the Orville and Wilbur got the patent from Santa for Christmas in 1895.

Everybody knows that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hercule]

...when I noticed the "Mammoth Mart" price tags on the presents.

O my god, I haven't thought about Mammoth Mart in 40 years!!!!!!!!!

My son is 9 and this'll probably be his last Santa Christmas. With help from other kids at school he's starting to put it all together. We'll go the Santa= the spirit of christmas giving, family and fellowship etc., which is how I see it, (in spite of my irascible curmudgeonlyness).

 

[dh66]

One of my daughters is adopted from an orphanage in Ukraine. She knew who Santa was, I saw a tree and a little doll of him at the orphanage. I doubt very much she ever got much from old St. Nick unless it was a few pieces of candy or something, given the level of poverty that I still to this day struggle to wrap my mind around, but like I said, she was aware of him. She was six when we got her. The first Christmas we had her home we took her, along with the rest of our kids, to the mall for the obligatory photo on Santa's lap. That child's reaction when she laid eyes on 'real' Santa Claus for the first time made ME a believer again.