Santa

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I'm assuming since this is the adult forum that i can discuss the big man freely

This time of year makes me think about "that day" when mum sat me down and told me "the truth". id come home from school where id galantly defended mum and it turned out she HAD been lying

I remember yelling and screaming and crying at her because she'd lied to me

Mum said that it made her rethink the situation, and consider if given a second chance she wouldn't have gone along with it

so...did anyone else have an interesting revelation about "the truth"?

do you have kids? will you have kids? do/will you lie to them too?

i dont think i will, but how would they cope with going to school with all the kids that DO believe?

hmmm

I did a Psychology research paper on lying and Ol st. Nick came up. Psychologist from tons of Universitys all say the same thing "The Santa myth lie" isn't going to traumatize your kids and telling/not telling is up to the parent but from a Psychologist perspective no harm is done with this little lie.

I don't know. A part of me feels like it can do a lot of harm, especially if the lie is continued throughout adulthood. I run an autism group, and I know of a mom who tells her 17-year-old son that Santa is real, and he still believes it. But, what happens if someday he finds out that its been all a lie, especially since the lie has lasted so long? A part of me almost feels like telling the parent that it is time to tell your son the truth (because I fear that he will find out later in life, and it won't be nice), but I'm just staying out of it since I'm not the parent, and its not my call, and the concept of Santa makes him happy. I just hope he doesn't find out the truth when he is in his 30's. I have no idea what kind of effect that can have on someone.

santa is a bright shining manifestation of hope in a dark and hope-deprived world.

i was deeply disappointed to find out that santa did not exist. older kids told me. i was sad.

my daughter is 16 and i've never overtly "told" her that there is no santa. we make it into a tongue-in-cheek event. when she started to suspect, we told her that if she doesn't believe in santa then he won't bring her any presents, so she'd better believe or suffer the consequences! she kind of laughs at us, but plays along.

My mother was pleased when at the age of three I logically deduced that there was no Santa.

She wasn't so happy that at the age of four I logically deduced that Jesus and God didn't exist.

I figured it out at 4 1/2 and told my mother. She admitted it but swore me to secrecy for the sake of my little sister. I have raised my kids without Santa. At least, without the Santa as he was presented to me: "behave this way, or no presents from Santa." Instead, he's the spirit of Christmas. My 7-year old asked me if Santa was real (this year) and I said, "He's as real as you want him to be."

I, too, remember feeling hornswoggled and pissed that grown-ups were lying to me, and about something that was meant to control my actions.

Oh, and, I think Jesus *did* exist, he just wasn't magical. IMHO

LOL! Great!! !!

Around here, our position is - Jolly red suit Hallmark cartoon Coca Cola ad Santa Claus does not exist. And is not even that much fun to pretend about [though I did once make tracks in the snow to mystify a little girl of the right age.].

But on the other hand St Micholas the do good by stealth Bishopo of Myra does exist, is acrive in the world, and in partnership with St Basil is heavily involved in the giftgiving spirit of this time in the church year.

I think the concept of Santa is harmful , not as something that will break the trust between child and parent, but as a calculated way for the church to create an emotional bond between children and religion. Same as bedtime prayers, same way the pledge of allegiance is used in every elementary school to induce feelings of patriotism.
People can see logically that there is no magical god, creator of all things. Thaty's not so hard for people even of average intelligence.
But it is not so easy for them to imagine themselves parting ways with family traditions, like Christmas, Thanksgiving turkey, Easter eggs, etc.
They can't bear the thought of the disappointment their family members would feel toward them if they didn't participate.
The churches of organized Christianity know this, this is why they engage in practices of indoctrination of children so actively.

Think I'm full of s**t?
Just go to any mass, they usher all the children off to 'Sunday School' where the teach the kids such absurd things...
They instruct parents on how to properly brainwash their children
They know what they are doing, and they know that they must, if they want the $$$ to keep rolling in.

Santa is a small piece of the Christian brainwash machine. MHO

I was confused about santa. I believed (and was scared) when I was little, started questioning it when I noticed he looked different every year (and there was more than one of him at the same time, like when you see him in each strip mall) and wasn't getting any older, I was relieved when mum and dad admitted he was make-believe.

I was taught make-believe is different to lying, as one is about deceit and the other is playing a game of pretend.

I now know Santa is a conspiracy by the Coca-Cola Company to boost children consumerism in December.