Santa Claus is coming to town....or so the song says

when i was a kid my mom told me from the start that Santa isn't real. how boring. she probably don't want me to expect a gift and be disappointed when i see nothing.

I will be 60 this Christmas and I STILL believe in Santa, or at least the spiritof Santa or Father Christmas! I have 5 children aged between 38 and 14 and never once have any of them said that they didn't believe - we still leave out a mince pie and whisky for the fat man and carrots for the reindeer and I always will! Too many children ae having their childhoods spoilt too soon by the silly lie that Santa doesn't exist!! I actually work for Santa!! I write personalised letters to children wo have written to him, I am often asked by parents to try to maintain their child's belief and also I have to write letters to those poor, poor children who don't believe, With these children I always add copy of the famous'letter to Virginia that was sent to a little girl by the editor of Th eSun in New York in 1897, Virginia wrote: [i]"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? "VIRGINIA O'HANLON. "115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET." [/i] The reply was [i]Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.[/i] I think this is a lovely reply and more adults should read it and take in the thoughts. Info from http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/

Had similar perception as yours when I was young. I really believed in santa that I prepared empty socks so I could receive some gifts. Funny remembering those but somehow that really anticipate more and excited more everytime xmas is near. My mom used to put some gifts for me there, made me believe it came from santa but it really made me happy. I miss those days...

We have celebration for Christmas nowadays but I never had concept of Santa when I was a child.I wonder how many Asian countries don't have Santa but I'm sure most of countries in Asia celebrate Christmas since it's a symbol of American culture and is globalize nowadays.