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Post by tygerarmy on Sept 17, 2009 13:33:58 GMT -5
You can tell what this thread is inspired by.
I'm curious on what FSTDTer's teach ther kids. The myth is fun but finding out the truth is dissapointing. So what is it?
If you (did) celebrate christmas and the giving of presents do you raise your kids believing in Santa? Why or Why not?
If yes do let believe in other fairy tales, the Easter Bunny, the Great Pumpkin, Mr. Hankey, Kevin Federline?
If not if your child came home from school and asked about it or told they believed in them what would your reaction be?
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Post by Bezron on Sept 17, 2009 13:36:17 GMT -5
Meh, I see it as mostly harmless childhood fun. We'll be letting our daughter believe in anything she wants, except Kevin Federline. Hell, we are already planning on teaching her that the dog is her pet lion, just cuz it'll be cute
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Post by Tiger on Sept 17, 2009 14:34:53 GMT -5
I think that it'll establish a modicum of trust if I don't lie to my theoretical children for my own amusement.
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Post by Marc on Sept 17, 2009 14:44:13 GMT -5
I think that it'll establish a modicum of trust if I don't lie to my theoretical children for my own amusement. This is my feeling as well. We aren't teaching the kids that Santa, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy are real. Marc |
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Post by Old Viking on Sept 17, 2009 15:14:58 GMT -5
Here's a tip that's a real budget-stretcher. On Christmas Eve, when then the kids are in bed, fire a revolver in the living room. Then tell them that Santa Claus committed suicide.
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Post by cagnazzo on Sept 17, 2009 15:18:39 GMT -5
Here's a tip that's a real budget-stretcher. On Christmas Eve, when then the kids are in bed, fire a revolver in the living room. Then tell them that Santa Claus committed suicide. That may be the best idea ever. You could also sled fragments in your yard and set off an explosion, then tell the kids he crashed. Anyway, I will probably tell hypothetical child that Christmas is when families give each other gifts. I think my parents tried to tell me Santa came, but I didn't believe them. I was a pretty... skeptical, I guess, child. |
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Post by Amaranth on Sept 17, 2009 15:34:41 GMT -5
Hopefully, by the time I have any kids Obama will have turned us into a secular state, and Christmas will be a remnant in what books his Nazi Stormtroopers haven't yet burned.
Barring that, I don't know. It's not bad to have things to believe in, but I don't want to lie to said hypothetical kids. I think the latter wins the day, however.
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Post by captainhooker on Sept 17, 2009 15:43:09 GMT -5
Santa's harmless. I have no problem with it at all. I believed in Santa as a small child and the fantastic and imaginative aspects of that belief were part of the fun of Christmas. When I was old enough to know better, I never felt wronged or lied to.
This "I would never lie to my theoretical kids" attitude is funny to me. There's an enormous difference between an indoctrinating lie and a harmless fantasy that enhances the holiday atmosphere.
Kids are idealistic and imaginative. I'd hate to think that my kid missed out on part of the magic of Christmas simply because I have an aversion to the irrational.
My daughter can feel free to believe in him as long as her imagination holds out.
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romets
Junior Member
Posts: 59 
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Post by romets on Sept 17, 2009 15:46:04 GMT -5
My family never followed the Santa story. There wasn't much point to it because we gradually add presents to the tree over the weeks instead of all at once on Christmas Day.
I agree with Tiger and Marc. If I had kids, I would not make them believe in Santa because there's no good reason to lie about something like that. It's really just taking advantage of children's trust unfairly. If they asked about Santa, I'd tell them the truth. The magic of Christmas lies not in telling "cute" lies to little kids, but in spending time with the people you love.
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Post by captainhooker on Sept 17, 2009 15:51:47 GMT -5
The magic of Christmas lies not in telling "cute" lies to little kids, but in spending time with the people you love. That's certainly part of it, but there's no reason it has to replace or exclude a belief in Santa. When I was a kid, belief in Rudolph and Santa and all the other stuff was part of the fun...trying to stay up late enough to see him outside the window or hear him on the roof, leaving cookies and milk...Hell even seeing one of the Santa impersonators in the middle of summer and him throwing you a wink.... that shit was fun...I don't care how irrational. My parents weren't lying to me, they were playing to my imagination. |
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Post by Bezron on Sept 17, 2009 15:55:30 GMT -5
There seems to be a misconception here about this.
No one is advocating forcing kids to believe in Santa. Cap'n H summed it up exactly. Kids are imaginative, and this type of thing encourages that imagination.
As I stated, I'll be telling my daughter that there is a Santa, just like we're telling her the dog is really a pet lion. No one I know of felt "wronged" or "lied-to" when they found out that the cute stuff like this wasn't true. If my daughter comes to me and says "there is no Santa", I'm not going to come up with some elaborate lie to prove to her that there is. I'll simply say, "are you sure? then where do all the presents come from?" It's a nice little segue into teaching her about the importance of family and telling the people you love that you do.
Likewise if she tells me the dog isn't a lion, it'll be a nice little segue into the importance of imagination and dreams. For the record, we're also planning on getting either a Great Dane (pet horse) or Mastiff (not sure, we'll have to figure out what it would be) when she is about 1 year old.
Childhood should have as much whimsy and magic as it possibly can, which is something that has begun to be lost (and started to produce asshole kids)
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Post by Tiger on Sept 17, 2009 16:02:33 GMT -5
There seems to be a misconception here about this. No misconception. I'm not going to tell my hypothetical children things that aren't true. That answers Tyger's question, I believe. |
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Post by Jedi Knight on Sept 17, 2009 16:16:07 GMT -5
I've been Santa to some of my younger cousins and to my sisters daughter. The children seem to be well aware it's all make-believe. They all know Santa's not real, and we don't encourage them to believe in Santa. Half the fun is that they aren't quite sure who Santa is this year. We try to leave them some mystery, but nothing they believe for real.
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Post by meshakhad on Sept 17, 2009 18:39:49 GMT -5
If my family celebrates Christmas, I will raise my kids to believe in Santa... as a test of their ability to resist irrational beliefs. The minute they declare that Santa isn't real, I will reveal everything.
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Post by Sigmaleph on Sept 17, 2009 19:54:12 GMT -5
My parents never told me Santa was real, or as far as I know said a word about him as I was a child. I did hear about him from TV and other kids, but I guess I always knew it was just a story. I did once or twice burst a friend's or younger cousin's bubble, not intentionally, but more of not actually realizing people thought it was real.
Come to think of it, it's quite similar to my upbringing regarding religion. I was never told anything about God, though I sort of understood that there being multiple religions meant that Christianity was not the universal truth some of my friends saw it as.
I see it as a good approach. So, I don't think I'll be teaching my hypothetical kids about Santa, although their hypothetical other parent might disagree.
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