to tell ds the truth about santa

[elmofan]

hi , just looking for your opinions please , ds has started asking questions about weather Santa is REAL , well he asked last year & we kept up the pretence but he is 10.7 & will be 11 at the end of January , i think its time we told him the truth about Santa if he asks again whereas DH wants to keep the pretence going , trouble is I'm worried that this will make ds a target for bullies , as he has been bullied before & i know quite a lot of his friends do NOT believe any more . is is time to let our pfb grow up or is dh right ? x

Isn't it a bit early in the year for this debate?

No need to sit him down and say 'I have to tell you something about Father Christmas'.

Next time he asks you can either:

• tell him the truth (it's a story that people like to tell)

• tell him in a wink-wink nudge-nudge kind of way (what do you think? well, in a way if we believe then that makes it real, etc)

• lie outright (of course he is)

I suggest options 1 or 2.

Make it clear that lots of children don't know and he shouldn't spoil it for them.

Yeh, he doesn't shake his belly like a bowl full of jelly ...

Not everyone celebrates Christmas as a religious occasion so the whole 'God becoming man' may be a non issue for many.

Besides the story of the nativity could also be considered to be a fairy tale.

elmofan, no the teasing doesn't get any better. [sigh]
But, having the big gap means that DS has been used for babysitting, and he ahs done a fine job too.
I recently found out that he used to insist she hold his hand crossing roads until quite recently
But he did recently, accidently punch her in the mouth, loosening a tooth.

LOL, but that's what Christmas is.

That is the only truth of Christmas. Everything else is a lie - shopping when it is a chore, Santa, material things. The only important things about Christmas are celebrating the birth of Christ, giving (lovingly) and building relationships.

Santa is just nonsense. All that 'you've got to be good' goes against the true message of Christmas. It's the main thing that lets Santa down.

Hi elmo, Santa is a pain tbh, my ds thinks santa is magic and can provide anything outrageously expensive. Agree tell him the truth.

DD is half Jewish and half atheist so the manger story is also going to get short shrift, I'm afraid.

The universe has plenty of mind-buggering, amazing things in it without needing to make anything up.

lol purepurple , i keep telling dh that in a few years time ds will be able to babysit then we can start having a life again ha aawwwwweeee he still holds her hand how cute are they , ds holds dd by the throat if he gets the chance

A lot of people consider the nativity story and all that goes with it to be nonsense and a lie.

That may be what Christmas means to you but it doesn't have to mean that to others.

Considering that Christmas comes from the pagan festival Yule,perhaps that's what it's really about and not babies in mangers and angels and wise men.

I think the point being made MmeProf is that to some, 'God made man' is no more than a story either. So what makes one the 'only truth' and the other an outright lie?

x-posts

One difference is that I truly believe in the nativity so have no problem in teaching it to my children. I do it with an honest heart.

With Santa, parents don't believe it, yet they still lie teach it to their children. Quite a difference, really.

I would rather believe in father Christmas than God.
I mean, father Christmas is much nicer, isn't he?
And I still have a tiny bit of me that thinks if I don't go to sleep, he won't come.
God, on the other hand, I know he doesn't exist.

No.Once they start asking then you cross the line from playing along with a fantasy to deception.I very much suspect ar 1.5m he knows full well there is nop santa and is uncomfortabl;e with why you are keeping it going

If your child is pretending to be a princess for example or a pirate do you tell them they are not?

There's no harm in the Santa Claus myth.It just makes things a little more exciting for them. I don't think that every parent should perpetuate it but if they want to then there's nothing wrong with that.

MmeProf, virtually everything we do at Xmas is an approximation of the festivities that Pagans celebrated at Yule and the whole 'Jesus's birthday' thing was tacked on to that date because no-one would give up their favourite festival. Apart from saying it's the birth of Jesus (whose actual existence cannot and has never been proven anyway and the fact that that the correct birthdate would be different now, given the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in the 16C), nothing else has any relation to Christianity. The idea of Father Christmas is more believable than an 'angel' making a teenage girl pregnant and so on (how does a female's body produce a boy when it has no XY material to build with, anyway?).

My Mum told me there was no Santa when I was 5. The first and last time I wished Atheists weren't quite so rational

Religions obviously haven't caused EVERY war, but religions have caused various kinds of damage.

What damage has ever come to anyone, anywhere, as a result of being told that Santa gives out presents?

Besides Santa might not give you a present if you've been 'bad' but at least he doesn't send you to hell if you don't believe in him.

The anti-Claus might stuff you in a sack and drag you up the chimney though.

That could be fun.

DS is 10, and last has seemlessly gone from beliving, to keeping the magic alive for his younger siblings.

Never were the unmentionable words spoke.

Father Christmas is alive and well.