by Elsewhere 45 Replies latest jw friends
I love to get into the whole Christmas Spirit thing, but I never take it to the point of lying to or deceiving children about it. I try to teach kids that it is the spirit of Christmas that matters... then I saw this thing. Parents are actively trying to deceive their kids by offering them "proof" that Santa is real.
This is just disturbing and will only lead to heartbreak later in the child?s life.
Elsewhere, that sounds a little bit like the reasoning I remember from the *old days* ....
Letters from Santa can be a piece of the Christmas fantasy and will not necessarily cause heartbreak as children get older .... any more than the tooth fairy, the easter bunny, etc. The spirit of Santa Claus, Rudolph, the Elves and the stories behind them are no different to me than other fairy tales told to children.
Children dwell in a fantasy world .... its called being allowed to be a kid.
This is just disturbing and will only lead to heartbreak later in the child?s life.
LOL! No it won't! It leads to fun, joy, a magical Christmas feeling, and the joy of coming to the understanding that we are ALL Santa!
I have to agree with bisous. A childs life is full of fantasy.
Stories and pretending are the very core of their developement and youthfull being. I have met no one who has been tramatized by finding out there is no Santa to the point that it effected their adult life. My wife told me how she waited for Santa every year and how she was shocked when she was told the truth.
She would not trade her memories of Santa for anything!
mho,
Bryan
i agree with bisous & lisabb. My niece is starting to question Santa but last year she got a letter from santa in the mail and she was so damn excited . I really doubt she'll be scarred for life for having believed in Santa for the first 7 or 8 years.
I love that my sister believes in Santa Clause. She cannot wait for him to visit her house and leave presents. The next few years will be so much fun and magical for her and for me. My dad always said these are the best of times.
If your kids send a letter to Santa, he will write back. I was shocked when we got letters from Santa one year. I figured the letters the kids sent would be floating through the US Postal service for eternity but they get forwarded to a group that writes back. They were personalized and each child's letter was a bit different. I thought it was really cool. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever.
I didn't realize it was going to harm them in the future though. You sure about that?
Steve and I have discussed this quite a bit lately after reading various "Santa is a lie" threads. I think it all boils down to the fact that this would be a non-issue if you hadn't been a JW. Also, no offense Elsewhere, but I can't help but notice that it's frequently the people who don't have children yet that insist they will NEVER teach their child that Santa is real.
I didn't teach my kids that Santa is real. It just happens. They ask to leave cookies for Santa each year. We've been paying him a visit at the mall for four years now (Same Santa each year...the guy looks amazingly real.) The kids know that as long as they believe, he will leave presents. We leave it at that and have fun with it.
Zoe KNOWS that reindeer can't fly. She insists Santa rides a bike.
Princess, great picture of Santa and your kids!
Of course, Santa rides a bike..........he must use ET's bike.
Hello everyone!
I surely hope all of you out there are enjoying a wonderful Christmas season . . .I most certainly am, this being my favorite and most busy time of year. You can't believe how happy I am, euphoric to the point of just wanting to laugh all the time! And, by gosh ,it's only for one reason . . .and that is because I know I am making children gloriously happy, even if it's for just a few weeks out of the year . . . that makes my work all year long fill me with love and joy!
Well, just thought I'd drop a line and say hello . . .I must get back to work, little hearts are waiting.
Merry Christmas to All!
Santa
Else-
I am going to be straight up with my kids. Knowing the turth about Santa never hurt me, so I'm choosing not to lie to them either.
