Do you do Santa?

[LeftyMom]

I never believed in Santa. It annoyed the crap out of my Dad and my Grandmothers (Mom didn't care) but I can remember back to being three and wondering why Mom wrote Santa's name on packages when I could recognize her handwiting. Honestly, I felt a bit condescended to by the whole thing. As a result, I don't really have any desire to expose my kid to the Santa myth. (I'm already compromising by celebrating Christmas at all, we have no religious reason to do so, but it make my family happy.)

The problem is that my father and sister act like this is a form of child abuse.

Has anyone else skipped the Santa thing and have any advice? Likewise, if you do Santa is there some reason we should?

[mrgorth]

1. It's part of the magic

I think you're over intellectualizing on this one.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

2. My son is just barely 2 years old.

He doesn't know about Christmas at this point. We don't have any decorations or a tree this year. We intend on moving in 6 months, so we are trying not to acquire too much stuff between now and then. We only got a few gifts (nothing big). We'll probably start with the Santa stuff next Christmas when he is 3.

[abelenkpe]

3. I'm skeptical about

the whole Santa trip, too. I got a little tree and wrapped some presents for my son, but in reality I feel uncomfortable about the fictitious nature of Santa. I don't even understand where the whole Santa myth came from. But Christmas is a time filled with many happy memories from my childhood even if I never really believed in Santa. So, while I don't necessarily want my son to believe in Santa Claus I do want him to enjoy the celebrations of the season and being with family. I think one can do that the same way they watch cartoons and television knowing that it is not real but entertaining. Y'know what I mean?

[LibertyLover]

4. Santa

I understand what you mean, but I also agree that Santa is part of the magic of the season. Heck, I'm Wiccan and my husband is Pagan. Our religious holiday is Yule (which would be today actually - Blessed Solstice) but the family holiday we choose to celebrate is the 25th. To be honest, I look at Santa as both a personification of the Indo-european shaman, with more than a touch of the Old Gods thrown in and the spirit of giving - so I have no problem teaching my daughter about him. But every parent has to decide what's right for their children and if you are uncomfortable with the Santa mythos, then it's your prerogative to raise your child without it. Will it damage them to grow up without Santa - I doubt it. Do what you think is best for your child and your comfort.

[OnionPatch]

5. I always figured I wouldn't do Santa

for reasons mentioned, but once I had my daughter it just kind of happened. Even if you don't tell your child, they'll hear about Santa somewhere. I didn't want to burst the bubble, so I've let the myth stand.

The one thing I really didn't understand about Santa when I was little, was when some kids didn't get as much as others. I knew it didn't depend on how good they were because some of the most rotton kids got tons of gifts and some of the nicest got few. :( So, I told my daughter a new Santa lie: I told her that Santa only brings each child one or two gifts and their parents give them the rest and only tell them they're all from Santa. She thinks this is our little secret.

I figure this way, too, it won't be such a blow when she finds out the whole truth.

[SW FL Dem]

6. We did Santa when my son was younger. My family is Swedish

so we open most of the presents on Christmas Eve but the kids always got their big Santa present and stockings in the morning. My son began to question Santa at around 7 but I told him that Santa wouldn't come if he didn't believe. It's part of the magic of Christmas to me, once my son stopped believing it wasn't the same. The first year, he was thrilled to help me buy gifts for the stockings, but he was really disappointed when he got up and realized there weren't any surprises under the tree or in the stockings. Now that he is 13, most of the magic is gone, he knows what many of his presents are and there are a lot fewer of them than there used to be (2 year olds are happy with $10 toys - sometimes even the box is exciting). Teenagers have more expensive tasts :(.

[LeftyMom]

7. Thanks everybody

I appreciate the responses. I thnk we're just going to take it easy, not shield him from the Santa stuff but not really draw attention to it, either.

[The empressof all]

8. The spirit of Santa

When my daughter got to be around 5 I began to frame things as the spirit of Santa comes into Mommy and Daddy. To this day, my 14 year old calls Christmas shopping Channeling Santa Claus.