Holidays
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Re: Others think I'm a big meany.
Did your parents not teach you or let you learn about St. Nick- since you say you teach your kids about Jesus...what about St. Nick (Santa)? You just seem so bitter over this
I dont understand why parents these days dont want their kids to use their imagination- kids are growing up way too fast these days, its just sad.
I value the effort and imagination my parents gave us when we believed in Santa. My mom spent so much of her time to be creative on the way our gifts would be wrapped and displayed. It was a joy to wake up Christmas morning to find out Santa had come. You see, when I was growing up my parents didnt have a lot of money...and we didnt get toys during the year like other kids did. But, we were fine with that -and we knew santa was the one who brought the toys
One christmas, when I was starting to not believe, I sat on Santas lap at the mall (we were always told he was santas helper), and I told him I wanted snow. Well Christmas am came, and we got Snow- which never happens around here!
Just think about the imagination and magic your are depriving your children of- and I hope your children dont ruin and spoil it for others
I fully appreciate your decision to be honest with your children about Santa. My parents didn't lie to me about Santa and I certainly never felt like I missed out on anything because of it. In fact, as a child I felt a little more grown up and in the loop knowing what I knew about where my presents came from. Although I'm not sure it would have ruined my trust for my parents, I feel it would be an unnecessary disappointment to put on my children.
I think there is still so much magic in the Christmas season without the dishonesty. I certainly don't have a problem with make-believe or fantasy, but simply feel that with my own children, I would wish to be the person they can always depend on for the truth. In the same way my parents did, it can be a very rewarding experience to remove the buffer of Santa and have gift-giving retain its highly personal core of family and togetherness. However, I won't remove movies or books that include Santa from my kid's Christmas experience, but will present them in the same way as fairy tales-- as wonderful make-believe stories.
This.
Alyson & Phil | Planning Bio | Married Bio!
Dates & Quinces Blog
However, I think you should have enough respect for others to teach your children that others do believe and they should keep their thoughts on the subject to themselves.
Exactly.
OMG, that made me LOL.
So, here's my question that no one else raised. What if you children still do believe in the magic of Santa from hearing it from other kids? It's very possible that they will believe ALL the other kids that say Santa is real. Then what? What if they resent you for keeping him from them or "lying" to them about all the gifts coming from you? Or what if they become depressed bc they don't get presents from Santa, so they must be bad kids?
OK, so my mom had my youngest sister when she was 36 (older sis and I were 17 and 15), and she decided that she was "done" with all of that make believe stuff, and gosh darn it, she wanted the credit for the presents, not someone who doesn't even exist. We thought it sucked for little sis, but whatever. Fast forward four years later when little sis was in Pre School and learned all about Santa and how he comes to your house and brings presents if you are good. I can tell you from experience, there is nothing more traumatic than finding out that you are apparently the worst little girl in the world because Santa has NEVER come to your house! Far Far Far worse than finding out later that he was make believe.
Poor little thing--that's just so sad.
As for the OP, she owns a childcare center according to her account page. I guess Santa is a topic not allowed there? I can't get over how it's so important to get the credit for buying presents. Once they learn that parents are really Santa years from now, the parents get the credit(seems very selfish). Also, I remember the Christmas Eve I was told he didn't exist. I was initially a little sad and asked tons of questions(very inquisitive child), but cheered up really fast when I realized all my parents did for me all those years in keeping traditions alive.
wait a minute.... Santa's not real???!?!?!??!?! :-P
JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS! (Hiro, Meena & Max)
What are YOU looking at?!?!?!........................I put a spell on you!!
Just hanging around........................Break Dance Kitteh
My Healthy Dining Blog
The Remodel!
someday your children will have kids - they may look back and feel robbed of a magical/innocent time in their lives when they could believe in anything they wanted...maybe then, they will "do the santa thing" with their own kids to make up for what they lost...
you must have been devastated when you found out santa wasn't real for it to impact you this much...
These two statements make me feel so sorry for you and your children. They are such materialistic statements to make. Christmas and Santa are about giving, not getting.
If your kids will never doubt you and you will always say the truth... I'd love your next breath to be about how you will educate them about sex.
I'd wager money right now that you don't use the words vagina and penis.
Yeah that's right my name's Yauch!
you suck. chrsitmas isn't about how many gifts santa brought...and as a parent, its not about wanting credit for what i spend. its about magic and fantasy and a complete innocence that you can only have when you don't know the world around you isn't as great as you think.
and dude, i didn't stop trusting my parents when they told me santa wasn't real. that has got to be one of the lamest things ever.
I don't understand ANY of this thread.
What do you all mean that Santa isn't real??? Seriously???
PS Why don't you tell them about Global Warming while you're at it. And poverty, AIDS.... does a little bit of magic really hurt?
I am just going to go ahead and say it, I feel sorry for your children.
Some of my best childhood memories center around the magic of Santa, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy etc. Our children are only innocent for such a short while. I can not imagine denying my son the wonderment of believing in something magical.
Yes!
I remember being little and waking up in the middle of the night by my sister crawling into my bed. We'd lay there and whisper as quietly as we could, asking each other if he came yet, and trying to imagine how he got into our house because we had no chimney. We would lay there, trying not to make any noise at all (just in case he hadn't been there yet, he'd think we were asleep), until the sun came up. Then we would run out to the living room and jump up and down when we saw the presents under the tree, the half eaten cookies on the table, and the filled Christmas stockings. We would always raid the stocking first and then go jump on our parents' bed so they would wake up and let us open the rest of the presents. I can not imagine missing this part of my childhood. It's even started a new tradition for my sister and I. She stays here every Christmas Eve, and aside from her gifts from me, she gets a stocking left for her from "Santa".
When I found out Santa wasn't real, it wasn't a huge blow. I was around the age where you stop believing in that kind of stuff. But you know what? I kept up the act, because my little sister still believed and I wanted it to stay special for her.
This exactly.
I remember losing a tooth and being all excited that I was going to have a visit from the tooth fairy. I'd try to stay awake so I could see her.
I remember being excited about waking up on Easter morning and getting to search for my Easter basket that the Easter Bunny hid for me.
I remember my brother and I trying to decide on Christmas Eve what cookies to leave out with the milk (and carrots for the reindeer) for Santa. Then being too excited about Santa coming too sleep from anticipation (what will he bring me this year?!?).
I also clearly remember the night my brother (8yrs old) and I (6yrs old) snuck downstairs to find my mom eating the cookies and milk we left out for Santa. D'uh MOM was Santa!!! It all made sense, I mean we didn't have a real fireplace!!
I never once had any ill feelings towards my mom about her 'lies'. In fact, we continued with some of the traditions she started for us even after knowing the truth, such as, leaving cookies milk and carrots out; only this time we made sure to leave her favorite out.
I plan to make these same traditions with my children. Why? Because it's FUN to believe.
I think it really sucks that your kids won't have these kind of memories because as far as they know there is no Santa. I think it sucks that you equat letting your kids believe in Santa as a lie.
I was just like your sister. My much older brothers told me there was no Santa and our dad was Santa and there was no need for Santa to come to our house. It sucked to never believe.
Well put Eddy.
OP, did you get coal in your stocking one year? And fyi, you're going to have some really pist off parents if you let/encourage your kids blab all around school that there's no santa.Bah humbug to you.
And obviously she had Cookie Monster turned into Veggie Monster.
Hahaha this is the best!!! I knew a girl who had two brothers and growing up their parents said/did the same thing. As the kids got older they were a bunch of asshats ruining it for all the kids. The mother prancing around saying "we only promote honesty" "I don't tell lies to my kids, I want an honest open relationship".
Fast forward 25 years later, the parents are divorced after daddy found a younger lady friend. She is a cashier during the day, stripper by night. Her older brother is locked in jail 25 years attempted murder of his mother. The other brother is single and has 5 kids with 4 different women.
My 2nd grade teacher decided to inform us a few days before Christmas that Santa was not real. I did not believe her - I thought she was the most horrible person on the face of the earth. I hated her after that...why on earth would someone take it upon themselves to tell 30 seven & eight year olds there is no Santa Claus just a few days before Christmas.
To the OP, the spirit of Christmas is not how many gifts you buy your children or getting credit for buying those gifts. If that's what you think Christmas is all about, I suggest you open up your eyes and look around at people who are much less fortunate that you. How many people in your circle are out of jobs and can not afford Christmas gifts for their Children? Toys for Tots programs are in dire need of donations, food banks are having trouble keeping up with demand and donations to the Salvation Army are severely decreased with the current economic conditions. That's fine if you don't want your children to believe in Santa Claus but maybe you should teach your children we can all be a Santa Claus for someone else. Teaching your children that Christmas is all about gifts and getting credit for giving those gifts are not the lessons that Jesus taught. Jesus never asked for credit for his gifts to us; he just asked that you believe in him, be good to others and love your neighbor as you love yourself. I feel sad for you that you are so self-involved that you feel the need to compete with Santa Claus because you want recognition for buying your children's gifts. No wonder people have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas.
ITA. I'm all for celebrating Jesus' birthday and whatnot but in your OP you said that at least (Jesus's birthday) was the truth and that is technically not correct.
There's evidence that his actual birthday is sometime in the fall (Sept. I think) and Christmas started as a pagan holiday way before Christ was even born and originally was a celebration of the rebirth of the sun god. Everything about Christmas is pagan really...the tree, the holly, the mistletoe, gifts, decorations, wreaths, and so on.
Blog!
For Christians, the giving of gifts represent the gifts the 3 Wise Men gave to Christ.
I compltely agree and I think that you not telling your children not to tell others children is a real rotten thing to do. Why ruin something for others just because you choose to "be a big meany". If you don't want your kids to believe in Santa, then fine but don't ruin it for other 5, 6, 7 y.o. They only have a short amount of time when they actually believe in "magic". Not all religions believe in Santa but my Jewish friends growing up never told me that Santa wasn't real. They just told me that Santa doesn't come to their house and they celebrate differently.
Yeah, but it originated during the Pagan celebration. Gift giving was just one of the things the Christian's changed the meaning of
Blog!
Seriously, we all have different beliefs. Raise your kids however you like, but it's not cool to put-down what other people believe.
I believe in celebrating the magic of Christmas through a fictional Santa Claus, who I believe was inspired by a real person who gave generously and annonymously to children, and that person was called St. Nicholas. This was just about the wording my mom used the night I asked her if Santa was real. I treasure those memories of a time when my imagination was so strong.
You call it lying. I call it imagination. Whatever, but I've always thought that lying had a malicious or selfish intent behind it. Just as I don't have any issues with "lying" to throw a surprise party, and I don't have issues with "lying" to celebrate a fun tradition with children.
I think what bothers me most is your comment about wanting the credit for the gifts.
I know when I realized that my parents were actually Santa, all the memories of Christmases past came flooding back and I was overwhelmed by how much my parents must love me to not only get me so many wonderful gifts, but to make it all so magical.
And now, as I do the same for my children, I love my parents more and more for doing such a magical and wonderful thing for my sister and I.
Wanting the credit is selfish. Bah humbug!