What do you tell your little ones about The Jolly One?

ccbatson · November-26-09, 12:40 AM

Obama is clearly a socialist and has stated his affinity for Marxism...you believe otherwise?

Blarf · November-26-09, 12:44 AM

If I had kids, I'd probably run with the Santa thing when their young. It's just for fun anyways.

Since I'm not religious, it's really doesn't matter to me either way.

ccbatson · November-26-09, 12:46 AM

Sigh...people, do we make a disclaimer when any fictional story is presented to a child by declaring that they are "lies"? Come on now, you are taking this way too seriously. Guaranteed the children aren't.

Blarf · November-26-09, 12:48 AM

Hey, as far as I'm concerned, learning that the existence of Santa is bullshit is a good life experience. Welcome to the real world kiddies.

ccbatson · November-26-09, 12:51 AM

For crying out loud...even when my kids were 5 years old they understood that stories aren't real, they didn't look upon them as lies or deceptions, nor did/do they/we enjoy them any less because they are known to be fiction.

Stosh · November-26-09, 02:10 AM

Originally Posted by ccbatson

Obama is clearly a socialist and has stated his affinity for Marxism...you believe otherwise?

You are a name caller. I'm reporting your ~~~~~~~~~ behind to Lowell.

**eriedearie** · November-26-09, 08:40 AM

Let kids have their wide-eyed wonderment and innocence for as long as possible. They are only little for a little while. They grow up fast and will be old for a lot longer period of time than they get to be young. They've got plenty of time to find out about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy without us ruining the sense of magic touching their young lives. Let kids be kids and enjoy themselves.

And it's not lying to your kids if you let them believe. You're just letting them be a kid.

DD don't read too much into all this. Enjoy your little girl, enjoy being her daddy. Don't think too much - just be.

**EMG** · November-26-09, 01:55 PM

Due to life circumstances, I'm never going to be a parent [[not that I'm at all disappointed about that!) but that doesn't mean I didn't long ago give thought to how I would have handled that situation had things worked out differently!

To make a long story short, I've been a non-denominational Christian since my late teens. But I took a long roundabout route getting there - first having been raised Roman Catholic since infancy and then being an atheist [[or at least trying to convince myself that I was) through most of my late childhood and early to middle teen years.

And a big part of the problem that kept me on that roundabout path for those wasted years in between was the whole issue of Santa Claus and the other fictitious childhood characters - Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc. From my earliest days, neither my parents nor I ever distinguished those fictitious characters from God/Jesus. As I grew up and learned the fictitious ones were fictitious, I mentally threw out God too, and for those intervening years just believed my parents were naive for not also "being as wise as myself and seeing the light on God as well." [[Much as I imagine most ongoing atheists might similarly still feel). It took some lengthy trials and much soul searching and research and study to get to where I am today spiritually, and that's something I would definitely want to spare any children of my own.

So I would most certainly emphasize from the very start that these holiday characters are just that - characters. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't allow them to be enjoyed - AS FICTION - but in the same realm as OBVIOUS fictional characters, like cartoon characters, TV characters, etc. Even at a young age, I believe that if properly taught, children are capable of understanding that these characters, while fun to think about and imagine and enjoy, are NOT REAL - while at the same time being distinctly taught that God and Jesus ARE. And along those lines, I think I would even separate the religious and secular aspects of the holidays. It's a historical fact that Jesus' actual birthday was most likely NOT on December 25th, and ideally I would separate the family's observance of those events. Even in most Christian families today, I would venture to say that 80 percent or more of the Christmas season - even even Christmas Day itself - really has little or nothing to do with Jesus at all anyway, if people are really honest with themselves about it [[you know what I mean!!!) So why not just acknowledge that, and set aside a separate time to ponder and teach children about Christmas as actually recorded in Matthew and Luke - with no mass marketing commercialization or fictitious characters to interfere? AND THEN - ON A SEPARATE DAY PERHAPS A MONTH OR MORE AWAY [[to the extent a family can afford and wishes to do so) a SEPARATE time to share gifts or better yet good times together as a family?

[[As an added bonus - the "secular" part of the celebration could even be held at a time of the year when the gifts are on sale and the crowds at the stores are not at insane levels).

**EMG** · November-26-09, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

If you decide to tell her the truth, be prepared to deal with the possibility that she might spill the beans to other kids whose parents might object.

You know, at first that sounds like something a parent should actually be concerned with out of respect for others.

But delving deeper, it really isn't. After all, especially if your children are in any public school system [[and even in many non-public school systems), they are going to be exposed to and subject to indeed having pagan values RAMMED DOWN THEIR THROATS that you and your family would never approve of.

When you stop to consider not only the quantity but more importantly the SEVERITY of the LIES your own children are exposed to in today's schools, that you as a parent have to work that much harder to stay on top of and refute so as to ensure your own children are properly grounded in reality, "the possibility....that other parents might object" to your children spreading what is actually the TRUTH about mythical characters should really be not the least of your concerns, but actually not a concern at all. You as a parent have to deal with so much of the crap promulgated by others - don't waste your own valuable time and effort worrying about who might be offended if your children prematurely present truth.

**elganned** · November-26-09, 10:09 PM

Christmas is a lie. That includes Santa Claus, and the Miracle on 34th Street, and all the rest of it. There's no way to sugar-coat it, and no way to shelter your children from the eventual truth.

By it's very nature, the death of innocence is always murder.