Do your children believe in Father Christmas?

[Socci]

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But spidermama, lots of children did the same thing. My DD said to me when she was 5 that a boy in her class told them all that FC didn't exist and the others all told him he won't get any presents if he thinks that.

Getting back to the original post, what do you do then Socci, tell them all the presents are from you and no mention of FC? Surely your children will wonder why you're saying he doesn't exist when all the other parents are saying he does? Is that me being daft thinking about it the other way round? Just curious how you deal with it.

My DD's good friend at school is Muslim and does not believe in FC. My DD is quite able to cope with that.

She thinks that FC only comes if you believe in him and so is determined to keep believing as long as possible.

Who says FC is not real? I will fight them. www, you miserable old gnu.

I know! I know! My pov wasn't popular the first time I posited it! Ah well, I am over it!

I'm not miserable...
Just spent 4 years living on a very limited income whilst DH studied in London and I really couldn't see any way around the issue but with honesty.

My children would never tell any of their 'good' friends that FC does not really bring their gifts because we explained to them that this is an important aspect of some families' Christmas tradition and they fully accepted that information.

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Learning that Father C doesnt exist, babies don't come from storks and thunder isn't Jesus playing the drums (sorry, was that just my family ) is part of growing up, as is learning your parents don't get everything right and are indeed human- and yes, probably do lie sometimes!

All mine believe, don't know hoew long they will for, but as long as I can make it last I will.

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If I call all you non-believers miserable gnus will you be offended? Or will you let me off as I am drinking wine?

Anyway, were you angry with your parents when you found out? Coz I thought how sweet, all that work they'd done for me.

(peachyclair leaves thread now deciding she won't get het up about FC in July, but knows she'll be back despite herself )

Ah, just do what you think is best for your particular family and be done with it! But then. what would we argue about on MumsNet? Oh no I am arguing with myself... been here too long....

no.

Of course I can laugh at myself now but at the time it caused an existential crisis when I discovered there was no FC. It was more because I discovered my parents were willing to lie to me. I wondered what other things hadn't been true. For instance, I knew for a fact there couldn't possibly be such a thing as magic.

NOW, however, I do believe in magic. Kind of. But it took me a long time to get that belief.

The day I forced my parents to admit that there IS no Father Christmas is the day the magic disappeared from my childhood. (Hugely dramatic violin music denoting terrible sadness)

I'd rather keep the lines blurred for my children. They sort of believe, but it's more a case of willingly suspending their dis-belief. IYSWIM.

Not any more. She demanded the truth last January and I told her

But there IS an FC! He might not be the name of an old man in a red coat, but it is the name of the Christmas spirit and I love him!

(Told you I'd be back)

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I can't remember the day I stopped believing in Father christmas but I know I pretended to believe for acouple of years after to save my mums feelings. I never felt betrayed or hurt at all.

My own kids believe in Father Christmas and I can't see the harm in it at all.

It's just that it has such an obvious shelf life and then what? What dies alongside the FC myth?

you have to tell them that father christmas ran off with the toothfairy - mrs clause got vez pssed off - and shot the toothfairy. ghowever in the struggle fr xmas banged his head and now believes he is a ladyboy and you can only see him in Brighton.
mrs claus got legalcustody of rudolph - sold him for glue - she fell on hard times but kept his nose as it helped when the leccy ran out.

the elves got laid off

the elves now have a pending case against JRR tolkiens estate due to deformation of character

I really can't see the point of Father Christmas. But then I was brought up in a religious family, and Christmas was about celebrating the birth of Christ, so we had a lot of special preparing for Christmas to do with that (including moving Mary and Joseph and the three King's slightly closer to the crib every night).

Now I'm an atheist I'm having to invent new Christmas traditions. They are all about making presents for other people - this year we did candles, last year we did bulbs in special posts the kids painted.

I really dislike the idea of Father Christmas because a)it is all a great fib (and I love to tell stories, but agree with Socci about the difference) and b)presents are from people who have (hopefully) taken time and effort and some sacrifice to chose something for you and you should say thank you to that person not some made up character!

The other thing is that there is an implication that Christmas suddenly loses it's magic when you break that secret. I still find Christmas special, and I intend to keep it that way for all of the family for more than the next few years.

I have no problem with other people's traditions - Christmas it seems to me varies from family to family. Oh yes, and my dd (aged 4) tells me that I am quite wrong! (oh and my ds wants to go to church...)

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I was brought up in full knowledge that FC was a myth, which I felt was a bit bald from my parents. I let DD1 sort of believe in it, but then DD1 has a distinctly hallucinogenic take on the world in general and has been known to take the Gruffalo out with us 'in his separate car behind us, mummy' in the Normandy countryside so really one Father Christmas more or less doesn't matter much.

I decided from the word go not to lie, so my children were told all the exciting stories about FC, but they were told that they were just that - stories, just like any other fairy story we'd read or told to them.

We did the whole thing; putting out stockings, mince pies etc, but they knew it was a game of 'let's pretend' like any other such game that they played. None of the magic was missing. Children love make-believe and story-telling and they love role-playing and pretending. We used to give our children presents that said "love from Father Christmas" on them. They knew the presents were really from us (just as they would if we'd written "love from Mickey Mouse" or something), but they enjoyed the excitement - and there was always that ever-so-slight possibility that Mum and Dad might be wrong and there really was a Father Christmas, but that was from their own imaginations, not us lying to them.

I've had friends whose children have still believed in FC and the Tooth Fairy (don't get me started on the TF!) till they were at secondary school !!!! Every time they asked intelligent questions, their parents elaborated the lies to keep them believing .

I sometimes think that parents want their children to believe in FC for their own benefit rather than the children's. It's as if the magic ends for them when FC is no longer a feature.

Grear posts 80smum, nooka, snailspace & motherinferior. Glad to know I'm not the only Grinch!

Lol custardo. Why do I get the feeling you're a journalist?

christmas would not be christmas without santa coming,even when my nieces knew the truth they still told everyone santa was coming.my dd and ds still believe in santa they are 6 andnearly 8.

There may be trouble ahead bigdonna.