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Christmas

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Original poster

how do you explain all the different Santas?

24 replies

Madnson · 13/12/2015 21:22

Just that really, there all so different. The Santa she met at school on Friday was a little skinny fella who spoke like Paul ogrady. We're going to a panto next week and paid an extra couple of quid to have mince pie with Santa before the show, then on Christmas Eve where going to Santa express where he'll be different again. This will be the first year my DD kinda gets it, she's just turned 4 and I know she'll question the differences. How do you explain it?

OP posts:

Sirzy · 13/12/2015 21:23

Santa is busy this time of year so sometimes has to send one of his helpers to dress up and help him.

SirChenjin · 13/12/2015 21:24

Yep - Santas helpers here too.

SecretLocation · 13/12/2015 21:25

Same as Sirzy. Santa is busy so he has lots of helpers. My 8 year old is still happy with this explanation!

OohMrDarcy · 13/12/2015 21:26

Santa helpers....

though both DC regularly decide the one they've just seen is definitely the real one!

PrincessHairyMclary · 13/12/2015 21:27

Santas helpers, write up a list after seeing children and send it to Santa

BrianButterfield · 13/12/2015 21:28

I said some of the Santas you see are not real. But you never know if the one who you see might be the real one.

ginmakesitallok · 13/12/2015 21:29

Santa helpers here. Which has been a pain in the ass, because until tonight she said all the santas she saw weren't the real one, so refused to go near them. Thankfully tonight the real one came by the house on his sleigh, so she's handed over her list.....

wanderingwondering · 13/12/2015 21:31

I had a quiet 'big girl' whisper in my dd's ear last year when she was 5 to tell her that lots of the santas aren't real. I think she was relieved as was getting a bit of confused. She plays along for the sake of Ds (3) who doesn't seem to have noticed yet.
We always discuss whether the one we've seen might have been 'the real' one and it doesn't seem to have dented her belief in the main man.

namechangingagainagain · 13/12/2015 21:33

Father Christmas asks kind (normally older) men to help him out .... this explains why sometimes they recognise friends grandpas dressed up as Santa. DH has already told them that he hopes to get the call up one day.

However, you can never tell if its the real one or not..... hence why we stalked one around a garden centre recently... he had a real beard but ended up leaving in a ford mondeo so probably not the big man after all.
DS 6 happy with this explanation ( and DS8 and DS11 play along to humour me).

CinnamonStar · 13/12/2015 21:42

I never tried to pretend it was the real Father Christmas. The real Father Christmas is magic, and you can't see him.

But sometimes people dress up as FC and give out presents, because it is fun and they are kind, and when they do it they are helping FC.

My DC have accepted this completely.

megletthesecond · 13/12/2015 21:49

Santa's helpers. He's got enough to do in the North Pole organising the sleigh and the elves, so other people have to visit children beforehand to check letters and keep an eye on behaviour.

OSETmum · 13/12/2015 21:53

DS decided by himself that they are Santa's helpers, but the real one goes to his school fair ( I really think he is the real Santa!) so we don't bother with any others anymore.

southeastastra · 13/12/2015 22:00

only take them to one santa

GloopyGhoul · 13/12/2015 22:02

Yup, busy man, hires help. Prolly pays them in mince pies tho.

LyndaNotLinda · 13/12/2015 22:03

Santa's helpers/people dressing up because it's fun. The real Santa is the one on Portable North Pole :o

wanderingwondering · 13/12/2015 22:34

Tried that southeast but he gets around! Last week we saw him in ikea, then went to. Christmas party 30 miles away and he was there as well, then walked out and he was also outside on his rotary club sleigh! That was awkward

Permanentlyexhausted · 13/12/2015 22:36

They're just people dressing up as Santa. The real Santa is at the North Pole getting presents and only comes out on Christmas Eve.

LittleReindeerwithcloggson · 13/12/2015 23:03

All the Santas are helpers who have to have Santa training and pass messages back to the real one. BUT the real santa chooses places to visit himself every now and then so they might actually see the real one. They have great fun deciding if he's real or not!

Tootssweet · 14/12/2015 06:47

The Real Santa is so busy he gives a little of his magic to ordinary people so they can help by getting round all the girls & boys. They pass messages back & sometimes - if he has the time to - he will sit in & talk to children.

My (now 25 yo) niece used to refer to this as 'Santa's magic hand'

d270r0 · 14/12/2015 07:34

My ds is 4 and a half, we didn't go to see Santa last year but did this year. But when he came out he said 'thats not the real father christmas, the real father christmas doesn't talk like that'. (Young and strong Glos accent). Fair enough. So I came up with the 'santas helpers' thing too, which he seemed to be happy with. It helped that the father christmas knew his name in advance and gave him a cool train, I said the real father christmas told him his name and gave him the train to give to him.

Mehitabel6 · 14/12/2015 07:48

You have to have 'Santa's helpers' when you see a whole group of them!

drspouse · 14/12/2015 10:10

Are all the pictures/Santas in films/models/decorations, of the real one?
Or are some of those also of his helpers?

Because some of those also look very different e.g. fat, skinny, white, black etc.

Do other people pose as Santa for pictures or act as Santa in films?

(I'm guessing the answer is yes - and you can never be sure what the real Santa will look like. Rather like, we don't know what Jesus really looked like).

APlaceOnTheCouch · 14/12/2015 10:17

Yep, Santa's helpers here too. DS decided the Portable North Pole one was the real one.

ovenchips · 14/12/2015 10:25

I would echo SouthEastAstra!

What I did about all those tricky Christmas questions is just tell my DC I don't actually know, because the Santa magic is very strong but parents don't get told how everything works.

My son has come up with his own story which makes complete sense to him. So in that way, he's created a cast iron explanation (in his eyes) for everything, and doesn't keep asking me questions I can't give very good answers to!

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