regarding Santa

I understand what you are saying about it being too commercial these days and to some extent I agree with you. I think that it is important not to get carried away with it all. I love the fact that my children believe in Santa and the Toothfairy and all the rest of it. It is nice to have an imaginary world sometimes and as long as it is not abused then no harm can come of it.

I see the commercial aspects and religious aspects as seperate things. I don't think the meaning of the holliday has to be lost in order to enjoy the other celebrations. Since every kid is different, I think it would be hard to plan when is the right time to start transitioning from "selling the magic" to explaining the truth and origins of everything and the difference between make believe and real, but I don't think that letting them believe for awhile will do them any harm. I don't have any moral dillemas with the protocols of santa, and as long as you don't allow yourseslf to waste too much money on the commercialism, a little bit can be fun.

I agree that the holidays are getting way to commercialized and I understand your point and think that it is a decision to be made between your husband and yourself as to whether or not you will introduce these characters. I have no problem with it becasue to me it is just in fun. You only have to allow it to go as far as you want, and you can still celebrate the real meaning of holidays. Whatever you choose to do, I am sure that you realize that your child will be bombarded with all of these characters on television, at school and from friends. You will have to be prepared to deal with this as well. In the end how you raise your kids is up to you. My kids are pretty good kids. They believe in Santa and all those characters, but they are not fully focused on getting gifts. They understand the meaning of the holidays and we celebrate them for what they are. I hope that you and your family have a happy holiday with or without Santa.

I'll tell the fairy tales and also the truth to my kids, although I'll still ask them to enjoy the celebration. I just think we need to let our kids know the truth, even if they are young.

What is the harm in allowing children to believe? They are fairy tales, fantasies. Children can learn the true meaning of Christmas even if they believe in Santa. You can teach them about Saint Nicholas, who brought gifts to poor children in the night, but also let him believe in the magic of Santa. You could put less emphasis on in, and more emphasis on giving gifts, or doing nice things for others, or focus mainly on the religious aspect of the holiday. I don't think there is anything deceptive about letting children believe in Santa or the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny. It is letting them experience the joys of childhood. Sure, there are other things that are imaginative, too. But these in particular are staples of childhood. It was an important part of my childhood, and I am talking to my son about it. That doesn't mean Christmas has to be all about receiving. It is up to you, and still very possible, to shift the focus to giving, spending time with family, helping those less fortunate, and celebrating the religious aspect of the holiday. Sorry for rambling. My point is-- you can do both, it doesn't have to be either/or.

I think kids should have a fantasy of santa, tooth fairy and etc. Alot of the time the kid knows. I would be honest and tell them if they ask. Some kids want the illusions and others don't. You can start your own traditions and truth being part of that and the history of the different characters.

I understand your point about the commercial impact. I think though it's caused by merchants and not so much by existance of the fictional characters. As a parent it's up to you to instill the values and meanings of the holidays in your children and to try to find a balance between the spiritual and commercial world. There was a discussion yesterday by Katrhina23, entitled "Is Santa Clause Real?" If you missed it, try to look it up. I pasted an old editorial which will be familiar to people over a certain age (lol)! It is a beautiful piece of writing which still hold true so many years later.

Either way it is done, they will soon learn that it is all not real to begin with, and we all like to dream of whatever it is we like to have happen or wish for something that cannot happen, so what's the harm. they grown up and they finally figure it out on their own, but like one said, I have told my kids there was a tooth fairly, and then I had one child ask me so if there's a tooth fairy she only comes when I lose a tooth, yes, of course I told him. if he knew we were those people, then he would have been pulling out his own teeth just to get money.lol so believing in something not real for kids, I don't think it hurts. even if you can't give much. it's the thought I've always been told and athere are many ways to give something to someone else for a loose tooth or for christmas. I've been there and done that. and either way it is ok. we all have dreams and wishes that we wish would come true or wish were real. even with santa, I have always told my kids yes there is a santa, he does work very hard to give something to everyone, might not be alot or be big, but that's not what counts, it's the thought that does. so when they recieve a small gift or just 1 gift they are thankful. because it was the thought and not the gift. good luck:) Bizmom24

they may be fictional, but the joy they bring can been seen in the wonder of a childs eyes, life gets too serious too fast for far too many chilren, it is not much differnt that kids falling in love with Pooh or Bella or Dora etc. It is the parents and adults that make the choice to sepnd the cash or leave out the deeper meaning, not the kids. tey are just along for the ride so to speak. IT is what we teach at home that makes the differnce in how kids learn to value things. Like having them make homeade gift for grandparents, or each otehrs. I think that Santa and the Tooth fairy and Easter Bunny get a bad rap. The stores spend tons of money on marking for Christmas, but then they do for Fruit Loops too! I say let the wee ones enjoy the majic of the holidays, teach them the deeper meaning and it's all good.

I think the holidays are way to commercialized too. I hate the holidays. I hate my kids, friends kids and other kids in the family expecting gifts from me when I have absolutely no money. I hate the commercialism of it all. I agree, what does Santa have to do with Jesus? What does the Easter Bunny have to do with Jesus? I don't really think there's anything wrong with the tooth fairy though, it makes something scary and sometimes painful worth going through for small kids. I have a problem with kids expecting a lot of money for a lousy tooth though. I think a dime or a qaurter is good enough. I think kids need to be taught the real meanings of the holidays and not taught the meanings that society gave them. I think the characters make the holidays more fun but also unrealistic. In my house Santa is a bad man, he doesn't always come to our house. We can't afford to pretend to be him. He won't be here again this year either. The commercialism and characters often disappoint children instead of making the holidays more fun.

I have to agree to an extent. Tooth fairy and the Easter bunny are fake, however Santa Clause or known more commonly as Saint Nicholas did exist and was very much real. Here is a link to the true story of Saint Nicholas the Patron Saint. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38 If you don't want your child to learn about the commercial Santa then teach your child about the real Santa Clause.

We have the same dilemma. I don;t have a baby yet but hubby and I are planning (and hoping) on having one next year. And since it's Christmas season, I got to pondering whether I will introduce Santa or not to my kids-to-be. I don't want to deprive them of the excitement brought by the thought that Santa exists. But like you, I don't want to trivialize the most important characters of the season. I want my kids to focus not on the gifts that they want to receive but on the value of Christmas. The gift that we received from God on this day. So I have decided that since it's part of every child's childhood, I will introduce Santa to my kids. But Santa will never be the focus of our Christmas. It will always be the birth of Baby Jesus. :)