Anyone not do santa?

[SaraElise]

We do Santa, but I know plenty of families who don't and instead focus on the Nativity story, and traditions involving St. Nicholas and other fun December Saints like St. Lucia.

I probably wouldn't go so far as to emphasize "Santa isn't real" if we ever decided to go that route, but just do our own thing instead and focus on that. If questions came up I would answer them talking about how the tradition came about (St. Nicholas) and how it's a way that some people continue to celebrate him.

[umphreysmommy]

Originally Posted by SaraElise We do Santa, but I know plenty of families who don't and instead focus on the Nativity story, and traditions involving St. Nicholas and other fun December Saints like St. Lucia. I probably wouldn't go so far as to emphasize "Santa isn't real" if we ever decided to go that route, but just do our own thing instead and focus on that. If questions came up I would answer them talking about how the tradition came about (St. Nicholas) and how it's a way that some people continue to celebrate him.

The second paragraph is how we do it. We don't do Santa brining gifts but I don't right out tell them he isn't real. I just don't feed into the lies though. I don't have to explain other characters are not real. We went to disney this month and I kept telling my daughter we would see the princess's and Mickey and she said "it isn't the real princess just someone dressed up" but she still loved doing it.

[alice_hallett]

We don't do Santa. There are new gifts under the tree Christmas morning. They just understand that they're from us, not Santa. So they're still surprised and excited. As for them accidentally telling other kids the truth, we coach them when the season starts. Telling them that even though they know the truth, other children may not, and it's up to their mom and dad to tell them the truth, not us. When they were younger we mentioned it every few days so it would get ingrained in them . Now that they're older we don't have to be so vigilant. And we homeschool so there's fewer possibilities for spreading the truth anyway.

We don't live near family so don't really have to worry about them giving Santa gifts.

[Ainmemphis]

I'm struggling with this for my 3 year old. We have done pictures with Santa every year and he knows Santa by images but when asked about Santa bringing presents he insists that Santa does not bring presents grandma and grandpa do. Which is true. So I'm not sure what we will do from here. I guess we will still visit Santa but not have ds "get" gifts from Santa on Christmas morning?

[HillbillyMama]

We don't do Santa or Easter Bunny, and won't do the tooth fairy, either....But we try to have a 3 year old kid level discussion with our son about it (which gets about as far as you think it does! LOL!!) explaining that its make believe fun for people and to not ruin the surprise for other kids. We tell him how Christmas is an American holiday (we personally
lean more towards a Messianic belief that Jesus was born during the fall, to coincide with the feast of Tabernacles) and that the tree, decorations, songs, etc... are an American tradition. We hope to use that time when they are older to focus on helping in the community, etc...simply because the focus on gifts is just a little too much for our liking

[bluedaisyma]

Originally Posted by crunch!910 We do not do Santa. Or the Easter Bunny. Or Tooth Fairy. Or.. whatever. Not that we have a ban on those things in this house. We still watch movies such as the Polar Express and other christmas movies. It is just a matter of we do not teach that those things are REAL and exist. The kids can, however, pretend and play. Much like my son can get the plastic extension from the sweeper and call it a "sword", or pretend a stick is a gun, or pretend there are fish in a bowl of water, or use nothing but a string to "fish" in the bathtub. We are Christian and try to celebrate the Holidays in our own way. Such as thanksgiving, I refuse to tell my boys the fake story. Even though it has a very ugly history behind it, how so many native americans were slaughtered, I'll use that history lesson to teach my boys to be opened minded, kind, and thankful. Turn a bad thing into a good thing.

yup. dh isn't Christian but he doesn't do Santa either. I used to have to tell my older kids not to tell their friends that Santa wasn't real, but that wasn't a big deal. We still do gifts and everything, just not santa or elf on a shelf, etc

[MyM&W]

Originally Posted by HillbillyMama We don't do Santa or Easter Bunny, and won't do the tooth fairy, either....But we try to have a 3 year old kid level discussion with our son about it (which gets about as far as you think it does! LOL!!) explaining that its make believe fun for people and to not ruin the surprise for other kids. We tell him how Christmas is an American holiday (we personally lean more towards a Messianic belief that Jesus was born during the fall, to coincide with the feast of Tabernacles) and that the tree, decorations, songs, etc... are an American tradition. We hope to use that time when they are older to focus on helping in the community, etc...simply because the focus on gifts is just a little too much for our liking

Same..^^

[ajane]

Originally Posted by tricia17lee I hope I don't get flamed for saying this- so those who disagree just know this is my own perspective.... I feel that it isn't fair to take advantages of a child's youth, imagination, trust, and blind faith in their parents to take advantage and essentially lie about big things like the Santa fantasy. I want my children to know that I would never mislead them, lie to them, or hurt them - especially over a game. Some kids are seriously upset when they learn Santa isn't real. I feel it can create a sense of distrust in adults- 'what else have you told me that isn't true'. I work in the infant mental health field and decided long before I had children that I would be very careful in not abusing my child's innocent faith in me. Of course my daughter lives in a world of fantasy of her own with pretend play and as she tries to figure out how things work ... And I'm definitely not talking her out of that or spoiling her own fantasies and imagination or expecting her to get a hard dose of reality about everything. What I don't do is make up stories and convince her they are true or use them to my advantage.

This made me laugh out loud. Santa is a real person, btw. We don't make up stories, convince our kids they are true or use them to our advantage. Children's sense of imagination is actually normal.

[ajane]

Originally Posted by EmmaGM I don't think I want to. I just don't like it, seems like a pointless thing to lie about, and I want to focus on the religious aspect of Christmas. Maximum, we're considering telling the story of the saint and having a small tradition regarding that. DS has several cousins very close to his age and I'm sure they'll all have Santa. How do I explain to him why a fat man doesn't come down our chimney to give him 800 presents? How do I keep the peace with my family when they're all ticked off that my son could potentially "ruin Christmas" for their kids? What do I do when my in-laws try to give him gifts "from Santa" because we won't (I'm positive this is some bull they'd pull)?

Santa comes to our house and all of our kids believe in him. I'm not going to shut down their imaginative process. I let them believe what they want and what they think they should. If they ask questions then I ask them what they feel or think. I leave it up to them. The religious aspect is why we celebrate Christmas and why the believe in Santa. The spirit and gift giving of St. Nicholas is continued through Santa.

800 presents, that is quite a few, lol. If you and your son don't respect others who do or want to believe, then yes I would be pretty upset. If you want the same respect then you should show it also.

[EmmaGM]

I don't know why you would assume I plan to be disrespectful? I don't want him to ruin Santa for his cousins and I'll coach him that some children believe Santa is real and we shouldn't ruin it for them.

And believe me, being respectful with my in-laws does not beget respect.