How do you all keep father christmas alive

[happycat]

The other thread about christmas has got me thinking just how do you keep father christmas alive.Has any of you got any tips on how you can prolong this magical time.Anything different.Also how do you cope when you have an older one and they start to work it out,it hasn't happened yet.Saw my first christmas advert on t.v last night so its here.

You've convinced me Mears! I can totally see the logic of where you (and your research) are coming from.

I just love Christmas and I think some of the 'magic' for small children is beleiving in Father Christmas. It is just a bit of fun and dont remotely care if coca cola made him red or not

Here's another source for you dadslib.

In 1885, publisher Louis Prang of Boston, who popularized printed Christmas cards, depicted him in a red suit for what may have been the first time. That version slowly began to take over, and the now-standard image (red suit with white fur trim) emerged in the early 20th century. That image solidified to rock-like hardness when, starting in 1931, The Coca-Cola Company launched its annual Santa-themed advertising campaign, attempting to soften the mid-winter slump in soft drink sales. Haddon Sundblom, a commercial cartoonist in their employ, created Coke's version of Santa, which eventually came to dominate completely.

Yes coca-cola Santa is the one we know and love, but he was not invented by them.

You obviously are a sucker for advertising

My dd1 is 7 and still believes in FC, but she is starting to ask questions now like "do the presents really come from him or do you and Dad buy them?" She is hearing stuff at school, and I think she will just gradually realise - but the blow will be softened by her helping me to keep FC alive for dd2. And my stock answer to her when she says that some people say FC doesn't exist is "How do you know? Nobody ever sees him so no-one really knows."

I do see where you are all coming from about the magic of Christmas, but do we really need FC to make Christmas magical? This notion of FC bringing presents really doesn't sit well with me at all. Surely that is not what Christmas is all about? And let's face it, kids are only interested in the present side of things, the reason they like FC so much is because he has a sack full of presents. I'll bet if he just came and visited without bearing gifts, they wouldn't be interested!
I want to teach dd that the real world can be just as magical. This might seem a bit idealistic, but putting toys in a shoebox to send to kids who have nothing is magical, doing a good deed and seeing that persons face light up is magical, going to Church and smelling the incense, seeing the candles all lit, listening to the hymns, that too is magical.

I don't see FC as such an integral part of childhood. Children have wonderful imaginations and THAT is part of childhood. They will find magic in the first snows, in the lights on the high street, they don't need FC or fairies. I would never take dd's imagination away from her, but neither will I go along with a big red fat man sliding down the chimney with a huge sack full of pressies drinking coca cola!

But then if you choose to go along with that, who am I to criticise? I'll do it my way and you do it yours!
Bah humbug!

Rhubarb ...

We do all that stuff too! I just like the whole santa thing. (And fairies, and talking to plants.)

Thanks Rhubarb - you said what I was too afraid to say

I wasn't brought up in a Christian family and neither was dh (although he was forced to go to his local CofE because it was the "done" thing). But now we're both Christians we'll be starting from scratch with ds and the "what do you tell them about Santa?" question. I like the idea of telling him about the history behind Santa etc, but I'm really not too keen on the whole lie about Santa giving presents only to good children. I'm sure someone's mentioned it before, but what about the poor child who gets nothing at Christmas because their parents can't afford it or, worse, don't care? That child spends Christmas thinking he's not "good" enough, which is heart-breaking

I do think it's lie. I always asked my parents why they didn't give me any presents at Christmas, but an old man I didn't know did - most odd...

I think we've technically got until next year to decide on our Santa policy because ds is only 13 months atm. But there'll certainly be no tooth fairy or easter bunny in our house! But we will have 50p under the pillow and chocolate eggs aplenty - just not the dubious commercial trappings that go with it all, ditto Christmas - we'll do stockings etc but more of a celebration of the original meaning rather than fostering a belief in something a bit shallow.

As a very cheesy but I'm sure well-meaning Christian once said "Jesus is the reason for the season."

Don't wish ti be rude Bobsmum but aren't the chocolate eggs all part of the 'commercialism' ?

Don't wish to be rude Bobsmum but aren't the chocolate eggs all part of the 'commercialism' ?

Message withdrawn

There is such fun attached to Santa, tooth fairies and Easter Bunnies. As children we had never heard of the Easter Bunny so I decided that I would do it for my children. They now know that there isn't such a thing as the EB or tooth fairy but they still like the egg hiding and money appearing to go on.
DH and I have a giggle hiding eggs and creeping into bedroon with money wrapped in tissue. I love Christmas Eve, sliding prsesnts into stockings for the kids, trying not to wake them. None of them have felt they were lied to when they discovered the truth. My youngest says she wtill believes in Santa (I think she knows realy) yet she knows the tooth fairy and easter bunny is us. A little bit of make believe in this horrible world at times is fun.

There is such fun attached to Santa, tooth fairies and Easter Bunnies. As children we had never heard of the Easter Bunny so I decided that I would do it for my children. They now know that there isn't such a thing as the EB or tooth fairy but they still like the egg hiding and money appearing to go on.
DH and I have a giggle hiding eggs and creeping into bedroon with money wrapped in tissue. I love Christmas Eve, sliding prsesnts into stockings for the kids, trying not to wake them. None of them have felt they were lied to when they discovered the truth. My youngest says she wtill believes in Santa (I think she knows realy) yet she knows the tooth fairy and easter bunny is us. A little bit of make believe in this horrible world at times is fun.

Testing to see if site is working again

Thank goodness for that

To be pedantic, the phrase "Jesus is the reason for the season" isn't really correct

The reason for the season is that it's near the winter festivals - the darkest time of the year and the days gradually getting lighter. Historically a time for rejoicing and feasting and a natural time for the Church to "tack on" the celebrations of the birth of Jesus (as many pagan stories of the season were also about the birth of a boy king at this time of year).

So Jesus may be a reason (seeing as no-one really knows exactly when His birthday was anyway) but it isn't the reason.

I think there's room for all kinds of celebrations at this time of year, including a celebration of myth and flights of fancy

My problem is that I often have at least one of the kids with me when shopping although I do a lot online now.

If they do witness a purchase for one of the others then I say "We need to send this to Fr Christmas now" - helps get round the fact that some pressies are from people with gift tags etc. too.

Katherine, it's a pain isn't it And I only have one - but it's hard enough to find shopping time. The internet for bigger presents is a god send, but I begrudge paying the P&P for "cheap" stocking fillers (which often end up more expensive than the main present!)

I don't know about the "magic" of believing in FC etc, I always loved Christmas but knew my grandad was bringing the presents in when I was asleep....anyway, my question is, do your children not know who presents are from then?
This only occured to me when talking to dh about this ages ago when he said he had believed in FC & had never known what was from his parents or anyone.
I find that v wierd, dd is always asking who bought which of her toys & I tell her. Have a feeling that some time ago she did ask me about FC & while I prevaricated she said "It's only a story mummy"
But I will be led by her, I'm not out to destroy it all, just averse to outright misleading. We shall have to see how it goes....

Don't you find it difficult explaining that it isn't Christmas for ages when the shops are full of stuff? Poor dd expects it to be Christmas day amy minute...

I think we had FC bringing the stockings, whilst the presents under the tree were from whoever they were from. I knew it wasn't really FC from quite early - 5/6 I think. Horrified to think of an 11 year old still 'believing'!!!
I've decided not to tell ds (2.3) its a lie, but not to say its true either. He'll come up against it and if and when he asks if its true I'll say something like 'its a lovely story' and tell him about St. Nicholas, and maybe the Babushka story and its variants about people travelling the world giving children presents because they missed Jesus on the original Christmas night. I feel really uncomfortable about lying about it - especially as you don't then want them to think other things -like God - might just be parental lies too. So I'll probably feature on the Sun in ten years time as a 'scrooge vicar' if someone gets wind of my son telling the other kids his mum said santa isn't true!!!! I'm currently going along with it to a certain extent - last year if we saw a Santa in a shop or something I'd say 'look theres a santa' (A Santa not THE Santa...) - but I think the reindeer footprints etc are going a bit far!

GeorginaA - I used to totally hate the postage too but then after struggling one year I thought about it and realised that paying a few extra quid NOT to have to lug the stuff round the shops and struggle with kids etc was worth it. Also we live about an hour from any decent shops here so I reckon I spend that on petrol - not to mention parking. When you look at it that way you start to feel a bit better about it but I do still try to get as much as I can from one catalogue rather than placing loads of different orders.

Dadslib - have you lost the thread of what we were at odds about?

You stated, and I quote,
"The Coca-Cola corp. were the ones who put him in red and it has just stuck!"

I said they did not. I agree coca-cola marketed him as we know him now but that was not the original claim of yours. Louis prang put him in red before coca-cola.

Why can't you just thank me for giving you so much indepth information? I must say I have never learnt so much sh*te for a long time.

Dadslib and Mears ... what entertainment you two are providing

I am the tooth fairy.

Are you Jasper? Perhaps you can answer a question for me then ... recently a piece of my tooth broke off and I asked DH how much I would get from the tooth fairy for it and he said nothing as it was my own stupid fault for not going to the dentist when I first had trouble with that molar ... is he right??