Do you link santa bringing gifts to behaviour?

[Fueledwithfairydustandgin]

Just wondering really as it's something I'm really firm about not doing but I feel hugely in the minority (nothing new) so was just curious

Absolutely not. Just haven't got round how to sell in the fact that santa doesn't bring clean water & food to third world children

Nope.

No, but it is such a prevalent idea everywhere that my kids still adopted this belief.

I've raged elsewhere on MN this week about this - my 5yo has been told this at school, who should know better, and will now probably end up gutted at how little Santa has brought him because he's been so, so good for weeks! When I've pointed this out I've been fobbed off with 'oh it's just a bit of fun' . DS would get the shirt off my back and my last breath but I can't give him what I haven't got.

My LO is only 1 but no, I was in tears at another MN thread where someone's mum said they were bad and wrapped up a potato or something and didnt get anything else I felt so sorry for her ...
and if your going to threaten something and not follow it through surely that's even worse in the long run?

The problem that I see with making it so linked to behaviour, teeth brushing etc, is it takes something simple and joyful, that is just about giving and having fun with loved ones, and makes it into a glorified reward chart, another thing to negotiate and bargain about, and it’s not what it’s about for me. I like to have time when they’re not at school and we can all do things together and play, and it is not conditional on anything else.

Nope.
(Well I do for my eldest 2. They know about Santa. They know i am joking, but also mildly warning them about their behaviour)

No, we are very firm about never threatening consequences that we aren’t prepared to carry out.

We were always quite explicit with our children that there will be presents regardless of how badly you behave on Christmas Eve.

We don’t do the elf thing, we don’t visit Santa’s grotto and we don’t do chocolate advent calendars.

We have very calm, happy, unstressed children all through December.

I’m fairly sure it’s connected.

No. Ds has heard it somewhere and really worries that he’s on the ‘naughty list’. I always reassure th that he isn’t!