How many ban Santa in your homes?

[R1100R]

We love Santa at our house. It's for the children. As they get older we talk about St Nick/Father Christmas. My mother was from Wales and I lived there as a boy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Christmas

Dr. John Condry of Cornell University interviewed more than 500 children for a study of the issue and found that not a single child was angry at his or her parents for telling them Santa Claus was real. According to Dr. Condry, "The most common response to finding out the truth was that they felt older and more mature. They now knew something that the younger kids did not."

We also know the reason for the season and teach that also.

Edited December 12, 2011 by R1100R
correct a comment

[DaveS]

We celebrate Christmas, but it has become one MAJOR "Commercial" holiday. BUY, BUY, BUY! Then people get mad because of something you did or did not give them. The true meaning of Christmas went out the door a long time ago. Now you have "Black Friday", and "CYBER MONDAY".....what the $#@??? HUMBUG!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!

[NRA]

We celebrate Christmas, but it has become one MAJOR "Commercial" holiday. BUY, BUY, BUY! Then people get mad because of something you did or did not give them. The true meaning of Christmas went out the door a long time ago. Now you have "Black Friday", and "CYBER MONDAY".....what the $#@??? HUMBUG!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!

You may want to say Happy Holidays (just to stay politically correct) before some one gets on their soap box. But that’s a whole other thread.

[tnhawk]

Santa is welcome here and it would be appreciated if he brought a few toys from Wilson Combat.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

When our son was growing up we had Christmas all the time.

Now that we are Emty Nesters.. we do not even bother with the tree anymore..we buy so much stuff during the year. .we run out of ideas on Christmas.I suppose once we have grandchildren...we go overboard..

[laktrash]

I suppose once we have grandchildren...we go overboard..

You will, trust me on this one

[Guest 6.8 AR]

If there is anyone around here who is politically correct,

"Merry Christmas! Fool!"

Political correctness is for those mindless boobs

who let others tell them how to think.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest PapaB]

I might add that once the kids were old enough to know better we explained to them that Santa was real. That he was inside all of us and it was the spirit of giving to others, some who may need more than you have.

This is what I did with my daughter at the appropriate age and what she did with her son when he was old enough.

[Guest PapaB]

My mother was from Wales and lived there as a boy.

Huh?

[Guest pfries]

. My mother was from Wales and lived there as a boy.

Huh?

It never ceases to amaze me, the things modern medicine can do….

[Guest PapaB]

Knowing that the modern idea of Santa was an invention of Coca-Cola in the late 1800's as part of a marketing campaign

You're thinking of the modern graphic image of Santa as a chubby man with rosey cheeks. The idea of Santa, aka Father Christmas has been around far longer than Coca-Cola. Prior to Coke commisioning a series of graphics for advertising, Santa was a taller, thinner individual with much the same myth as now, rewarding good children with good gifts and giving unwanted gifts, or none at all, to kids that didn't do as they should.

[Guest Broomhead]

Yes, Adults over-commercialize Christmas. Yes, Adults lose sight of the real reason for the celebration. Yes, Adults can't embrace fantasy like innocent children do. Yes, Adults do a lot of things that aren't right, moral, ethical, etc.

BUT...

Santa Claus is real, in the imagination of children if nowhere else. Imagination is the absolute most powerful human ability ever. It is one of the few abilities that separate us from any other species. Children are forced to grow up well before when they should, much younger than when we were their ages. My 7-year old 2nd grader has to memorize spelling words that probably 75% of the members couldn't spell without spell checker. Their innocence is lost far too early.

To ban Santa, in my opinion, is tantamount to robbing your child of their innocence. Which is worse telling a story to a child to preserve their innocence, or stealing that innocence away as if you were a thief? My daughters still believe, though my oldest is on the fence. I know that when she does figure it out, she will derive just as much pleasure from perpetuating the belief of her little sisters. Do you let your child dress up for Halloween? Do you tell them of the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Boogey Man, etc? If not, then you are stealing from them.

Santa is always welcome in my house. Milk and cookies will always be left out, along with a carrot for Rudolph. We have come up with complex ways for Santa to know what presents we/parents have bought them/other kids, knowing what presents the grandparents have gotten, how Santa gets in our house, why we buy gifts for other kids in the family, how Santa knows how they've been behaving. I enjoy the complex tales that my wife and I have woven through the years. I'm sure my oldest will enjoys participating when she figures it out. I like the Secret Club and Santa Claus Oath ideas.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Yes, Adults over-commercialize Christmas. Yes, Adults lose sight of the real reason for the celebration. Yes, Adults can't embrace fantasy like innocent children do. Yes, Adults do a lot of things that aren't right, moral, ethical, etc.

BUT...

Santa Claus is real, in the imagination of children if nowhere else. Imagination is the absolute most powerful human ability ever. It is one of the few abilities that separate us from any other species. Children are forced to grow up well before when they should, much younger than when we were their ages. My 7-year old 2nd grader has to memorize spelling words that probably 75% of the members couldn't spell without spell checker. Their innocence is lost far too early.

To ban Santa, in my opinion, is tantamount to robbing your child of their innocence. Which is worse telling a story to a child to preserve their innocence, or stealing that innocence away as if you were a thief? My daughters still believe, though my oldest is on the fence. I know that when she does figure it out, she will derive just as much pleasure from perpetuating the belief of her little sisters. Do you let your child dress up for Halloween? Do you tell them of the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Boogey Man, etc? If not, then you are stealing from them.

Santa is always welcome in my house. Milk and cookies will always be left out, along with a carrot for Rudolph. We have come up with complex ways for Santa to know what presents we/parents have bought them/other kids, knowing what presents the grandparents have gotten, how Santa gets in our house, why we buy gifts for other kids in the family, how Santa knows how they've been behaving. I enjoy the complex tales that my wife and I have woven through the years. I'm sure my oldest will enjoys participating when she figures it out. I like the Secret Club and Santa Claus Oath ideas.

I think you hit it dead on

[k9wh91984]

When your kids get old enough show them the movie Silent Night Deadly Night! No more Santa. I snuck and watched it at 5 and I turned out ok....or did i? I do carry a gun now! Hummm

[Jonnin]

Banned, but we don't have kids. Probably would not have a cow if the wife found & displayed somthing with him on it but it would take a pretty cool decoration to get into our house or yard. I would not ban it for small children, as they simply cannot understand that, but time they were 8, maybe 10 or so he would be gone.

[Smith]

My kids don't think much of it. We teach about giving and how Jesus gave himself for us and Santa never came into it. Do we make a big deal over it? No, They have fun with it like anything else, but that is the extent of it. I think folks get too worked over too many things.

[SithL0rd]

Santa is real.

Beginnings | Santa America

[R1100R]

It never ceases to amaze me, the things modern medicine can do….

Huh?

Meant to say I lived in Wales as a boy! lol You guys are a tough crowd.

Edited December 12, 2011 by R1100R

[Guest WyattEarp]

Knowing that the modern idea of Santa was an invention of Coca-Cola in the late 1800's as part of a marketing campaign combined with my distaste for the overly commercial/consumerist manner in which Christmas is celebrated and my reaction to discovering that Santa wasn't real at the age of 4 was "my parents lied to me" has led me to ban Santa from my home. I am catching a lot of flack from some relatives (especially the in-laws) who say that I will be robbing my newborn daughter of childhood fantablah blah blah.

Just curious as to how many of y'all abstain from celebrating that particular fantasy, or plan to abstain once you have children.

way off base.

The History and Legend of Santa Claus

Where did Santa Claus come from? | Washington Times Communities

The coca-cola association didn't even take place until the 1940's.

As for your decision, no one can tell you what is right or what is wrong, in how you bring up your child and the beliefs you instill in them. It's unfortunate you found out at the age of 4, but I hope you'll not allow your bad and apparently traumatizing experience to influence your decision to allow or disallow your child to enjoy the magic of the season. It's an age old children's fable, and is used to encourage the children to rush off to bed, so that Santa will come, and morning will arrive faster so they can open their presents.

What Christmas means to your child depends on how you present it her. Too much of anything is bad, but most things done in modesty are harmless. I hope you think about how this might affect her through out her life, in grade school, jr. high, high school, and her adult life before you make a decision.

more than the consumerism, Christmas is a time to give and that's one lesson that should never be lost or fade. It's also a date that is recognized by many Christians as the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Sadly, some people think it means to go out and by toys or worldly possessions, but its not. It's a time to give thanks, a time to help those in need and less fortunate, it's a time to make a diference, a time to show compassion, and while all of us, who walk upon this Earth, should do these things daily without needing a specially designated holiday to exercise such values and acts of kindness, the simple truth of the world we live in, is that is not possible, for reasons we all know (jobs, family, responsibilities, etc, etc, etc.).

You can teach your child to give in many ways aside from consumerism. She can give her time at a shelter for the less fortunate, donate to charity, giving and sharing her joy with others, making creative artistic things for others, volunteering at public events, or many many other possibilities.

So you can view it as negative, based on your experiences, or you can find the good through bad, do something positive with it. the power is all yours, and only you can make the difference.

IMHO, a child's imagination is the greatest thing in the world. And it's only something they have for a few short years. After it's gone, they are left with the sad realities of an adult world.

My father lost his imagination by the time he was 15. He wanted to join the Boy Scouts when he was 10, but dad's father was too lazy to work, and dad's mother was a school teacher substitute who made a very minimal income. When he asked to go to Scouts camp, he was told no they couldn't afford it. That killed my Dad's imagination right then and there. He mowed lawns until he could afford to go to Scout Camp, and then he bought his own mower, and busted his tail to keep going every year, and do what HE wanted to do on his own penny, and he grew up not wanting to be poor, and to give my brother and I more than he grew up with.

A few years ago when the first Transformers movie came out, I was healing a broken hip and elbow from a nasty fall, and I asked my Dad if he'd sit down and watch it with me one Friday night when there was nothing to do. he looked at the back cover, scoffed and said that's hokey bs. I said..."so? what's wrong with that?" he said it wasn't real. I asked him where his imagination had gone, he said it died when he was 10 years and made a request to my grandparents to join the Boy Scouts and go to scout camp for the summer, and was told they had no money. I told him to sit his ass down and watch the movie, he did so reluctantly, yet he laughed his head off during the entire movie. Afterwards, he thanked me and said he could remember about dreaming about stuff like that, and how much fun it was, and I just said, just because you're an adult and a father, doesn't mean you have to completely grow up and lose your imagination.

That's why I refuse to completely grow up, I don't wanna be like that with my kids, I want them to dream big, accomplish big, and go out and turn their dreams and imaginations into realities.

[Guest db99wj]

Not us, however, we emphasis Christ first, like we do year round, then Santa.

[daddyo]

My sister, brother and I all believed in Santa when we were kids. When we found out that Mom and Dad were putting the gifts out, it didn't scar us for life. We are all very normal and well adjusted.

My wife and I also did the Santa thing with our son. He is not permanently scarred from the experience either.

While I don't believe banning Santa will cause psychological damage in a child, I would be mildly concerned with how that would affect his/her relationships with friends who do believe in Santa.

[Capbyrd]

Anything that encourages a child to use his/her imagination is a good thing. And Santa will bring years of great memories that he/she will never forget.

I have no idea when I figured out Santa wasn't real but I know that when I did, life moved on without issue. It wasn't the end of the world. I can't imagine this being a traumatizing experience.

[DaveTN]

Kids will experience the hard realities of life soon enough. Santa is fun, at a fun time; let them enjoy.

[JAB]

Knowing that the modern idea of Santa was an invention of Coca-Cola in the late 1800's as part of a marketing campaign combined with my distaste for the overly commercial/consumerist manner in which Christmas is celebrated and my reaction to discovering that Santa wasn't real at the age of 4 was "my parents lied to me" has led me to ban Santa from my home. I am catching a lot of flack from some relatives (especially the in-laws) who say that I will be robbing my newborn daughter of childhood fantablah blah blah.

Just curious as to how many of y'all abstain from celebrating that particular fantasy, or plan to abstain once you have children.

No kids here but just curious - do you also ban the Pledge of Allegiance in your home? After all, in spite of some who seem to think that the Pledge goes back to our nations birth, it was actually written in the late 1800s (by a guy who may well have been a socialist) and, like the modern image of Santa Clause, was used as part of a marketing campaign (for a magazine with young boys as the target readership) - not much different than an advertising 'jingle' in that way. Of course, it didn't include the phrase 'under God' until the 1950s (that was added as a different bit of 'advertising' - Cold War propaganda to separate us from those 'Godless commies.') Further, I think it could truthfully be argued that patriotism has become pre-packaged and commercialized every bit as much as has Christmas.

At least, unlike the aforementioned Pledge, the story of 'Saint Nick' has roots that predate the marketing campaign.

Edited December 12, 2011 by JAB

[NRA]

remember no kids were harmed in the filming ................. oh wait I mean in the texting of this thread.