to despise lying to children?

[TimeWasting]

I hate that it's the main wondrous magical part of Christmas for them, about receiving stuff rather than giving and that it's a basic lie.

I think it makes Christmas shit.

I'm another one that remembers the anticipation and the thrill of Santa coming and that big fat stocking at the end of the bed.
I created it again with my ds when he was little and a little bit of that magic came back to me.
I so loved doing his stocking (which he still gets at 16), and him coming through to my bedroom while I ooohed and aaahed at what Santa had brought.
I love Christmas and I seriously do not get why a bit of fantasy equals a lie in so many posters.
They sound so utterly without imagination, and that is sad.

Christmas is what you make it. Why is the receiving the 'be all and end all'? When mine were little the giving was just as much fun, buying the present, wrapping it up, trying to disguise the shape, trying to keep it secret. They also helped to make presents, cooking etc. Collecting holly, ivy etc and making table decorations. Making cards with lots of glue and glitter.
Then there is the sheer magic, all the stories and poems about Christmas. Time to spend together when adults actually sit down and spend time, play silly games etc.
I do get fed up with people saying 'it is all commercial', ONLY if you let it be.
I also do not understand why a bit of fantasy equals a lie. We all need magic in our lives and I can't think of a better time then when a child.
I suspect that if you think that Christmas is all about receiving you don't do any of the things that I have mentioned-if you did then the sheer magic is far more important than what you get. I am surprised that people don't understand it. Probably they had parents who didn't understand fantasy.

Whenever I feel like this I listen to Scarlet Ribbons, to remind me that magic does exist all year round

Do you actually tell your DC the truth all the time? as in 'that might be a picture of a horse, but it doesn't look like it', Jack didn't invite you to his party because he doesn't like you' etc etc etc. The world would be a cruel place if everyone stuck to 'the truth' and in any case what is 'the truth' to one person isn't 'the truth' to another. The world isn't black and white, it is shades of grey.
I am very thankful that my parents loved me enough to make my Christmas special with 'lies' about FC and didn't stick to the mundane in the interests of 'truth'.

think you make your own traditions = for us , in ireland, santy was real and brought presents - though we never wondered why we were only family whose parents didn't buy them presents! I tend to see nothing wrong with idea of Santa but just because you do the Santa tradition doens' mean yo have to forget the whole other side of Christmas - you can do both!

Why is telling the truth always the best thing? As I said in another thread woudl you tell your child that their jab was going to be painful, or if they were having an operation and aske dif it was ok, would you present them with the statistics on the safety or just tell them of course they would be fine.

Have you not seen the John Lewis ad? That is all about giving (even if it is vom inducing).

My DC have helped me get ready and make lots of things for others as gifts this year (as we are a bit skint), and they definitely deserve a reward from Santa as they have thought of others. Plus DS is very religious and enjoys telling his two year old sister about Jesus. I admit she is struggling to understand what he is on about (she keeps repeated 'Jesus birthday, Jesus died' after DS's explanation).

Some people don't want the religious connotations, but can still partake in the sentiment of thinking of others less fortunate and FC without being selfish brats.

This thread makes me sad. Every child deserves the right to believe in Santa for a few years. I wonder how many of those who oppose it got to enjoy the happiness it brings themselves? You ought to hang your heads in shame

Errr, who says? You?

The John Lewis ad is our favourite ad this year as our ds is JUST like that little boy who can't wait to give his mum and dad presents. If you ask him if he likes birthdays or Christmas the best he says Christmas because everyone can join in and it's not all about one person and he likes it when we all sit down for Christmas dinner.

He spends hours in his bedroom making presents for the family and wrapping them all up - it's lovely to see him disappear upstairs and tell us he does NOT want to be disturbed

He LOVES hanging his stocking up and know exactly how the tradition started, he knows all about 'The Christmas Story' and we often go and have a good old sing at the carol concert at church(even though we aren't regular church goers.)

This is also the little boy who sent in some of his own pocket money into school as they were raising money for charities at Christmas.

So no, I won't be hanging my head in shame as he has the best Christmases ever :)

Well I don't think that po-faced truth telling about Santa is particularly necessary for tiny kids and is a leetle bit kill-joy (but not the end of the world), but worse imho is the myth hyperinflation and embellishment that some people go in for (convoluted rules about people sending stuff to santa, reindeer food, elf on the shelf etc). I think those people are spoiling it by overegging the pudding!

It IS a lovely magical story - a STORY and that's that.

But why is it necessary to tell them it IS real? It seems very odd to me. I didn't go around saying ' DS you know santa isn't real don't you?' from the age of 2!

To be honest I have a hard time believing that kids REALLY believe once they get to school - seriously? OK, maybe people suspend disbelief and enter into the spirit of it, but surely parents realise that MOST KIDS KNOW. We always used to talk about it at school - it was always only babies and preschoolers that really believed.

Oh yes birds we MUST hang our heads in shame. FFS

Would you tell a Jehova's Witness to hang their head in shame?

My 8 year old still believes and has disagreements with others at school about it .

My friend and her sister were always told father Christmas was made up. They both felt they missed out a bit and have done the opposite with their children.

I think the whole Father Christmas story is wonderful, to believe in him is a part of being a child before the real life shit starts..

I wonder how many of those that think of it merely as crap and deceitful, still tell their kids about the Tooth Fairy, or do they just bung their child 50p? - Its the same thing.. A bit of childhood magic!

Exactly birds!! All this 'Santa is REAL' business is a new thing, it wasn't around when I was a school

No. the tooth fairy is a nice story as well. I didn't have to tell me ds it wasn't real - he worked that out by himself!

Do people honestly think it's either one thing or another? Do they really think that once kids stop believing them Christmas is no longer 'magical?'

Some of the most magical Christmases I ever had was when I had first met dh and we hadn't even had ds yet. Christmas is not about who brings you presents.

2 or 3 is too young to really understand any of it. 4yrs/5yr and 6yrs is the best time.

Exactly, valium!

It is however much easier to keep the magic if you grew up with it.