At age 5 or 6 I observed Santa’s handwriting suspiciously identical to mom’s, took all the mystery away
We just go to the sculpture garden and play actuary on the statuary
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could make it religious and have the Actuary at the Sanctuary
All depends on the age - telling a 4 year old there’s no Santa feels mean to me. Telling a 9 year old, yeah that’s fine. On the other end letting your kid believe until they are 12 also feels not okay.
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explains a lot
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There’s one of these memes floating around this week about MTG that isn’t very nice
Marge on a barge?
Green on a Beem?
Taylor on a (Drunken) Sailor?
Green on a Tramp (oline)
Moderating:
Don’t attack other posters
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What about the Hanukkah Armadillo, huh?
Has any kid’s trust in their parents been truly shaken after they find out about Santa?
More a credit to the innocence of kids than a defense of Santa, imo
Those of you who hate the idea of Santa- didn’t you find Santa magical when you were a kid?
I loved the magical idea of a Santa back then. I wanted my kids to also be able to experience that. Once you’re older sure you care more about the gifts, but presents are nothing compared to magic as a 6 year old
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There have actually been studies on this topic, and they have found that children are rarely troubled by “lies” of the Santa type.
Despite being Jewish, my parents gave us Christmas presents, and told us they were from Santa. I remember when my older friend told me that Santa was really my parents, and proved it by convincing me to look in the attic, where I found the cache of presents that had been secretly purchased, but were not yet wrapped. I was not traumatized, and continued to trust my parents. “My parents pretended that something nice they did for me was a magical other” was not a horrible sort of thing to realize.
But so much of reality is magical! We should show them real stuff that is similarly awe-inspiring!
Well that at least makes me feel better on the ethical front
When I was small, I would actually cry when people sang “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”
I felt like a baby then. But looking back, maybe I was just keen on 1984 shit.
Just this morning I was explaining to my 7 year old how a tile floor feels colder than the carpet floor, yet they’re the same temperature… why!? What you feel as temperature and what temperature is is not necessarily the same thing!
“Santa” was in the park the other day. My sister took my kid for a pic.
I kind of didn’t want to do that shit. In part because it would feel like a more aggressive lie, and in part because it would devalue the idea of Santa.
Otoh, you’re only 6 once, right? So I don’t know.
My kid came back kind of excited, but it was not a profound experience. Which tells me she didn’t really buy it much.
In terms of magic, my wife has enabled (or at least allowed):
- Witchcraft
- Judaism
- Jesus
- Mary
- Santa
- Fairies
- Gemstones
- Living dolls
I don’t think my kid has really seriously stopped to evaluate these things. She is a lot more interested in stories than truth-value. Because of that, I don’t think she’d feel lied to, but I’m not sure.
Not being overly concerned with truth might help her keep faith a long time.