The santa clause myth is lib shit, and I have no plans to teach my kid that santa clause is real. I don't want my kid obsessing over the amount of shit at the bottom of that tree on 12/25, or trying to manipulate their behavior a few days/weeks beforehand to increase said amount of shit.
But, I'm not really sure how to approach this. The kid is only 2, so nothing to worry about for a few more years. Should I just be direct? There is no Santa, holidays are about family?
Anybody here already cross that bridge?
check out this good comment in the last thread about this:
https://hexbear.net/post/31542/comment/242044
My parents told me that Santa was a fun pretend guy based on a real guy who lived a long time ago and gave presents to people. So it was OK to sing silly songs and pretend, but none of it was real. But they also made it clear that some families like to pretend harder than we do and it was NOT OK to tell the kids at school that Santa wasn’t real. I think that’s the best way to handle it–I still enjoyed Christmas as much as any kid, but I didn’t have that moment of realizing that my parents had been lying to me. And the way they framed it didn’t really make me see other parents as lying to their kids either, just that they were playing a game of pretend together in a different way than my family did.
I didn't name drop you because it would've been obnoxious, we all recognized who it was from the quality
Just went to clear my replies and saw this again, and realized that my first reply sounds weird. Anyway, I just wanted to clarify that I was having a "hahaha oh no somebody remembered something I said here oh no hahahaha" moment. Anyway, I'm blushing furiously that one of my dumb comments was remembered, but I'm also flattered, so thank you.
I think the way my parents explained it was pretty good. They told us that Santa Claus is based on a real person who lived a long time ago and was famous for helping people and giving gifts, and at this time of year we like to remember him by giving gifts to each other and donating to charities like food pantries. Some families like to pretend that Santa is real, and it's just a game and that's OK. We don't pretend as hard as they do, but it's fine for families to do different things. It isn't nice to tell the other kids at school that Santa isn't real because their family is playing the game differently than we are, and again, that's OK. It's fun to pretend, and you can pretend that he's real if you want to.
We went to the mall to get pictures with Santa and did all the normal Christmas stuff, but I always knew it was just a fun game and never had a crushing realization that none of it was real. I still enjoy Christmas a lot and get real pleasure out of picking presents out for people that I think they'll enjoy, so never believing in Santa certainly didn't "ruin" anything for me, at least.
my parents solved this issue by having my grandpa wear a very scary santa mask. they then assured me that santa wasn't real to get me to stop crying
Is your kid circumcised? If so tell him he's Jewish. If not tell him he's Muslim. Any time a major holiday comes up, make a big deal about converting.
Some friends of mine told me that last year, when their 4-year-old asked about Santa, they explained to him that Santa wasn't real, then they went to an event where there was a guy dressed as Santa and their son said, basically, "You said Santa wasn't real, but he's standing right there."
Point being, kids will believe what they believe. Try not to get too hung up on it. Just tell them what you believe and do your best to encourage values that you think are important. Santa is a bit of a red herring.
I was raised not to believe in Santa. I asked my dad if he was real at like 4 he said no that was it. Hasn't effected my life at all.
smh the sun wont go supernova. teaching kids misinformation smh
Idk, pretty much everybody in my class knew that Santa wasn't real all the way back in first grade. I feel like as long as you don't tell them that Santa is real and don't let them watch too many cheesy Christmas movies, they probably won't think that he is real.
true, maybe i'm just over thinking the santa aspect of it. I guess I'm more concerned about the materialism part - I was a fucking asshole if I didn't get what I wanted for christmas, and I don't want my kid to be that way. Not putting all the blame on my parents here, obviously capitalism and consumption drove that narrative - but they didn't do anything to teach us any different.
Double down. Tell your kid not only is santa real, but also that his various germanic counterparts are as well. Knecht Ruprecht was the main counterpart in the area of Germany I used to live. Legend says if youre a bad child Ruprecht comes in and fucking beats you with a bag of ashes and you get no presents. Your child will no longer be sad santa didnt fill the bottom of the tree, but rather be thankful they werent beaten with a sack full of ash.
Tell them the truth! Santa is the fed chair in disguise, they hijacked a fable to drive consumerism. Make it into a bedtime story about the pitfalls of materialism: the deer are the workforce led by the red outcast, cookies are the tool of lobbying firms, and so on...
I believed in Santa until I was 5 or 6. I figured he was fake on my own. No harm done. Santa is representative of the season of giving and hope. Kids are resilient and will get over it in a day.
Teach your kid about Santa, it’s good for the imagination. If you’re scared of them being spoiled then make them do a toy drive or something. You’re definitely overthinking it.
My parents took this stance with me/my siblings because they didn't want us taking things for granted. They flat out told us Santa does not exist, it all comes from family that work hard to give the gifts, but also that kids in school believe in Santa and it is not my place to question that. I don't want kids but if I had any then I'd go a similar route
how did you avoid the concept of santa claus for 10 years of your life? did you not watch television?
that's something i thought about - i don't want my kid to be a doomer at 4 years old telling her classmates they're libs for believing in santa lol
I'm an angry cynical fuck, and I'm not sure how well a child is being prepared for the world in which we live if they believe the world is kind and just. I'm not saying I want to poison my kid with my own cynicism, but I want to temper their expectations.
I dunno man. Maybe it's just coming from being a millennial and having smoke blown up my ass for the first 20 years of my life that I'm so angry about all of what I was told and promised as a kid/young adult was total bullshit. I don't want my kid to have the same revelation that everything they were told and encouraged to believe in was a complete lie.
the fact that you even think about this stuff means you’re doing alright in my book
Thanks for the encouraging words.
