Do you take your dc to see more than one Santa?

[Sweetappley]

Do you take your dc to see more than one Santa?

Just the one for us, though we'll see him at a distance at Christmas markets etc.

My parents did this with me and said they were all Santa's helpers, acting on his behalf while the real Santa was getting on with the work at the North Pole 😀

Yes but DC are too young to notice.

I think next year we will say that some are santas helpers and we don’t know if it’s going to be the real Santa or one of his helpers.

It’s hard to avoid seeing more than one sometimes as a lot of the activities include seeing Santa- Santas grotto, steam train, breakfast with Santa etc. Even the soft play party we went to had a Santa come to visit and Santa has been to their school.

He's been to my kids school twice this year! (Once was on forest school visit to grotto in woods, once at class party), turned up at her Rainbows end of term party and was walking round an attraction we visited last weekend.

Considering it's his busiest time of year, the guy gets about

Yes - usually one as a family and one with a group of close friends. Sometimes my parents also take them if they have them near christmas.
My kids know that those Santa's are helper Santas. My eldest likes to point out why they are different from the real one

Just the one here. My kids seem to have decided themselves that any others they see by chance (eg at school) isn't the real Father Christmas.

He’s coming to my DCs school twice too (came last week and coming again tomorrow). I’m presuming it’ll be the same one though. My DD doesn’t pay enough attention to realise they are different but the one at the soft play party was pretty rubbish, I’m sure older children would notice.

No because both my DC would notice it's not the same Santa! We take them to see Santa at the local Garden Centre once a year and they know that Santa at the school Christmas Fayre is just a parent dressed up for fun!

I don't take my 3YO but he tells me 'real Santa' came to nursery, so I think he has a concept of real Santa and pretend Santa. Apparently he told Santa he would like 'more presents' for Christmas, so that's helpful.

There's only one real Santa that we see. The others they recognise as being somebody in a Santa costume.

Never took mine. I think they got a visit from Santa at nursery and playgroup but we never did the grotto thing.

No, to me it would take some of the magic out of it for them.

Where's the excitement about going if it's the third time you've seen him that month?

Kids enjoy these events precisely because they're out of the ordinary.

We’ve seen 3 this year. DS (who is 4.5) decided last year that the NT place we always take him to for our family Christmas outing is where Santa lives and so obviously that one is the ‘real’ Santa. To be honest we have not really spoken with him much about Santa and so he has made up his own mind about what is real or not and doesn’t seem overly concerned about the whole thing!

Yes but they were both free...one at church and one that goes round on an open topped bus and you give a few coins to charity.

Wouldn't be able to afford to do it more than once tbh

We see 2.
1 at the village pub who gives out selection boxes, she knows he's a helper of Santa's, the other at a proper event, told her he could be the real Santa or he could be a helper, we'll never know and that's the magic of Santa and we're not meant to know
She's 8 and still very much believes, though i fear this may be our last year as children in her class have started telling others he's not real.

Nope

Yes, I like to try out a couple of different Santa experiences each year, plus my dcs have always had one in nursery or school and there is usually a free or cheap community one at a local event. I've never even attempted to explain it and the dcs have never questioned it.