Children and Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc.

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Originally posted by Me Died Blue


Gerry, I can greatly relate to not really questioning anything once my parents told me Santa, the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy were not real.

Even so, I am against doing the same thing because of the ninth commandment at least, and also largely because even if my children would turn out not to respond to it as a stumbling block, it would still be inconsistent at heart with the whole principle behind the important nature, role and practice of catechism in raising them, not to mention inconsistent with setting an example of honesty.

Oh, I agree. Our youngest son married an OPC minister's daughter. When (God willing) the grandchildren come along my wife and I will not be a stumbling block for the parents in this regard.
 
Originally posted by trevorjohnson
Sorry to comment thus; but isn't putting "From Jesus" almost as bad as putting "from Santa"? (of course, I recognize that all blessings are from God...but they're not usually under the tree)...

Double and Triple :ditto:
 
Putting "From Jesus" on the gift can be very confusing and cause problems. We are sinful people who sometimes are not wise in giving the appropriate gifts to our children. Would anyone have a problem with giving one of those "Bratz" dolls to your child, but with the tag, "From Jesus"?

Which toys are "Jesus approved" and which ones are not?
 
ChristopherPaul,

For me, personally, as I am the one who does this and nobody else has, I'll answer.

My kids don't get a really large Christmas as it is, this year I was able to buy my daughters each a set of pearls, had they not been on sale, they would have cost upwards of $200 each, and there is NO WAY I would have been able to afford them or they wouldn't get anything else, even though it's something they both had on their Christmas list.

My son wants a skateboard, the one he wants costs upwards of $150, there is NO WAY I can afford to put $150 towards a skateboard when there are other things he needs as well. We found the one he wants on sale for less than half that price.

Those are things God provided a way for us to purchase that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to afford.

So for me, it's not inadvertantly putting "From Jesus" on every gift, it's just certain gifts that God has provided a way for us to purchase, that we wouldn't other wise be able to afford without going into debt to buy them.



Putting "From Jesus" on the gift can be very confusing and cause problems. We are sinful people who sometimes are not wise in giving the appropriate gifts to our children. Would anyone have a problem with giving one of those "Bratz" dolls to your child, but with the tag, "From Jesus"?

Which toys are "Jesus approved" and which ones are not?



[Edited on 12-7-2005 by BJClark]
 
I read this thread today with great conviction. Not necessarily that anything new was brought up that I didn't already know, although Santa's taking on omniscient qualities was one I hadn't pondered deeply before.

I'm sorry to say that my wife and I have played along with the Santa thing thing, and the tooth fairy thing. We've never made a big deal about it, in fact, I recall when my oldest daughter Emily (now 6) was younger I even told her that Santa isn't real. Well, if you tell a 3 or 4 year old that it will go in one ear and out the other. Anyway, this year Emily has been talking about how she wants an American Girl doll ($100 retail-- not going to happen BTW) and when I told her it was too much money she said "you don't have to BUY it, Santa can make one for me at his workshop". Enter in my reading this thread today, and I knew something had to be done.

I took Emily and her sister Sarah (4) aside today and explained about how Dora the Explora, Big Bird, Clifford and the like are all made up characters. This they acknowledged. Sarah gleefully added "and Cookie Monster too??" "Yes, Sarah, Cookie Monster too". I then went on to explain how the tooth fairy and Santa are the same. Made up. Sarah, the 4 year old, looked like she had no idea what I was talking about, and didn't seemed phased in the least. Emily, on the other hand, gave me a look as if to correct me and boldly stated "Santa IS real, and he has a workshop". I then, very gently and tenderly, went into greater detail about how mommy and I don't want to tell lies, that it's one of the Ten Commandments not to, and that we don't want them to believe a lie. I also apologized for ever pretending that he was real, that it was something my mommy and daddy did, lots of mommys and daddys do, that it's kind of a fun thing, but it's just not true.

Now is the point in the story when Emily's eyes began to look watery and her complexion turned a bit pale. It's also about the time I felt like sticking my head in a bowl of jello.

Next we had about a 2 minute long hug, and the end of which Emily asked "well, what about the presents"? I then explained that mommy and daddy give presents, and I also went into greater detail about who Nicholas of Myra was and how he was a good man, but couldn't possibly do all the things Santa is supposed to do, and that only Jesus can do those things. (sees you when you're sleeping, knows if you've been good or bad, etc) There was some discussion about the tooth fairy too, and I assured her that we would still compensate her equitably for her teeth. Long story short, fifteen minutes later she was busy with her dolls and acting as if nothing had happened.

I did ask Sarah if she understood what we had been talking about, that Santa Claus and the tooth fairy are not real, and she simply replied, "Cookie Monster too??" :um:


Quite honestly, part of me feels miserable, like a scroogy old humbug determined to squelch healthy childhood innocence. But the better part of me feels like this was the thing that needed to be done, and now was the time to do it. Better hard truth than friendly lies. Personally, I still enjoy Frosty and Rudolph and Santa, for the crazy made-up characters they are, and I'm sure my kids can do the same.


By the way, I did discuss this with my wife beforehand!
 
We tell our children that Claus is not real. But we pretend that he is. It is a make-believe game. They like it, which is not surprising since they spend half their lives in make-believe worlds (the boys are ages 4 and 6).

[Edited on 12-15-2005 by Scott]
 
Rick: It will happen sooner or later. I remember the day I learned Santa Claus was not real. It was summer and I was home watching the Family Feud. The questions was something like "Fictional characters that children think are real." Anyway SC was number 1. That was all the confirmnation I needed. I was 15.

(just kidding about the 15, but the rest is true).
 
The kids know that all those characters are imaginary. My oldest son was apparently told the story of St Nick though (that he was a supposed preacher). From my reading there is no evidence that he was bishop or priest or even a christian. Anyone have info along this line.
 
Originally posted by blhowes

I think as parents we should always tell our kids the truth. I'm always 'afraid' that if I tell them that Santa is real, it'll come back to bite me in the ankle (or elsewhere). If they come of age and realize that I lied about Santa, I don't want them to think that I may have lied about what I told them about Jesus.

I've seen that argument many times but I think it's a red herring and a poor one to use in this discussion. Children learn to distinguish fact from fiction by observing us. I doubt any child old enough to understand what worship is would A: believe that you had "lied" to them or B: wonder why you were worshipping this mythical being, Jesus.
 
Originally posted by dkicklig
Originally posted by tdowns007
My wife kind of fought me on it, but I explained basically the above issues, and I've told the kids that Santa Etc. are just make believe characters like Spider man, or Sponge Bob. They are fun to fantasize about and make up stories about but they are not real, just for fun.
:2cents:

:ditto: My kids know that Santa and company are as real as Spongebob and Mickey Mouse.

My daughter lost her first tooth today, and when I get home she's getting a little $$ from dad, not the tooth fairy. If I told here that some woman is coming into her room in the middle of the night to take her tooth from under her pillow she would freak out.

It made for a great movie (Darkness Falls) though!
 
VH?

Originally posted by LadyFlynt
The kids know that all those characters are imaginary. My oldest son was apparently told the story of St Nick though (that he was a supposed preacher). From my reading there is no evidence that he was bishop or priest or even a christian. Anyone have info along this line.

VirginiaHuguenot wrote something on this I think, seems that history supports he was a good Christian man and would not like the fact that he's been made into this character? I'll go back and read.

And to ??? who bought the skateboard for their son,
A: They are awesome and great and fun and I ride one with my son all the time at the local skateparks, but make sure he wears all pads all the time, I've seen wrists snapped, heads hit the pavement with the sound of a melon, and a kid at my church was in a coma from a fall off one; make him wear the pads. My daughter was one who broke her wrist, I didn't make her put on the wrist guards because it was flat, and she was just kind of standing on it...whoops.

B: Where did you get the great deal? I buy online sometimes, but good ones are usually up there. There is a HUGE difference between the cheap ones and the good ones.
 
Originally posted by blhowesI think as parents we should always tell our kids the truth. I'm always 'afraid' that if I tell them that Santa is real, it'll come back to bite me in the ankle (or elsewhere). If they come of age and realize that I lied about Santa, I don't want them to think that I may have lied about what I told them about Jesus.

That is what my parents have always said. I plan to do the same with my children, should the Lord so bless one day.
 
You mean Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc. don't exist.... After all of these years! Why? Why, didn't someone?

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
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