Santa Claus Is Over

[Gilbey]

When I was growing up, I always had great anticipation of Christmas because I knew that Santa Claus was coming to town ... to my house at midnight to drop off my gift. That to me was the most exciting part of Christmas because it was really rather special that it was supernatural enough having a gift coming from the North Pole that you personally requested on that letter to him. We usually write that letter to Santa about Dec. 15 and put it by the window. The next day, the letter would be gone and Mommy would have us believe that Santa took it that night. The whole thing was fun in itself until I turned 12 or 13 then began having doubts because I would inspect the signature and compare it to my Mommy's handwriting. Then the fun died eventually and it was all over soon.

I wish I'd pass the same tradition to my children. That's all part of being a child and growing up. That's why they say "Christmas are for children". I had my first born daughter born on 2000, then the second duaghter on 2002 (We're done!). Me and my wife tried to keep that Christmas tradition for them but we didn't expect it to end so soon. In fact it's over now. My eldest one used to believe it wholeheartedly until her classmates at the Christian school told her that it wasn't real. They told her it was your parents who placed Santa's gift under the tree, ate those cookies and drank the milk, and so on. She confronted us with this information and believe it or not, was crying because she said that we lied to her and made her look like a fool in front of her classmates. My wife and I just couldn't believe this! She just wants it black and white and tell it as it is. I told her that when I was growing up (at least until I was 12), I never questioned my parents about Santa's gift. I always believed, and it was fun. Just pure Christmas childhood fun. But I guess kids nowadays are more "advanced" than when we were. They tend to grow up faster now. Do you notice these things too??

Anyway, the Christmas tradition that I longed for my children are now over. And it saddens me that her childhood is gone, as she's only 7. My other poor 5 yr. old will lose it too because of her. Oh well, I guess this is a new family generation.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I still believe in Santa Claus even though he's not the one putting gifts under the tree.

 

[LaMedicine]

I still believe in Santa Claus even though he's not the one putting gifts under the tree.

Same here. I am approaching the big six-oh in a few years, but somewhere in the corner of my heart, Santa Claus is still alive.
My two girls, when they were little believe in him, too, wrote thank you notes and little gifts to him--something that they made in nursery school under the tree.
They (said) they believed in Santa, even after their friends in school told them he wasn't for real. Of course, now that they are all grown up, they don't keep up with it, but I can't remember when they actually stopped believing in him. I imagine they will keep the tradition when they get married and have kids.

 

[scotrace]

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his children letters "from" Father Christmas right up into their adulthood, complete with illustrations and news from the frozen north.

My own daughters are 10 & 14, and even though they know the truth, they are very reluctant to give it up because they know something magical will be lost if they do.

I still believe in Santa - but I'm a weep-at-movies-Sap.

So don't give up, Gilbey. Keep the magic anyway.

 

[Mocheman]

Was it the kids that told her this or was it the teacher? If it was the teacher, man would I be ticked. :rage:

Don't worry Gilbey, all is not lost.....I have a plan

Have your kids write letters to Santa this year. Tell your older daughter that you don't want to ruin it for the younger one even though you know she doesn't believe. Hopefully you'll get her to play along.

Get a friend who could play a convincing Santa and make sure you get yourself a quality Santa suit. On Christmas Eve when your kids are finally asleep and its after twleve go into their rooms and asked them if they hear something. Wait a few minutes and play up the noise angle (even though you won't hear anything). Then have your friend make a big entrance as St. Nick. Have him tell them how good they've been this year and that he got their letters. Here comes the kicker. Have him single out your older daughter and tell her that he understands that her friends have told her that he doesn't exist. So he wanted to make a special stop this year to let her know the truth. Then tell both of them that this is their special secret and have him point to his heart. Tell them that is where they will keep the secret and they will always know that no matter what anyone says Santa will always be in their heart. Then he tells them they have to get back to sleep because he's got lots of stops to make.

I give you a 100% Mocheman guarantee that she will believe again.

When I was a kid a neighbor of ours showed up at our house on Christmas Eve as Santa. Man I couldn't believe it (though I believed in Santa anyway). That Santa would wake me up just to tell me how good I had been was the greatest thing that had happened to me next to Star Wars.

Even as an adult when every Christmas rolls around I still hold out hope that somewhere out there in the frozen tundra there is a fat guy in a red suit with a bunch of elves ready to bring the spirit of selfless giving to all the worlds children....and adults

 

[LizzieMaine]

I lost my Santa-innocence early, sad to say -- when I was about six I found a pile of presents I'd written away to Santa for, hidden in my grandmother's closet, and all my previous doubts were crystallized. I'd always been suspicious of the fact that we didn't have a fireplace, and that our chimney led directly down a pipe into a kerosene stove, but somehow Santa was not only supposed to be able to get thru that pipe but somehow emerge from the stove unsinged. It just didn't add up for me.

Then I figured out that the Santa who appeared on local TV and once read my letter on the air looked and sounded very much like the guy who played Bozo The Clown on the same channel, and further suspicions dawned.

The final kicker was when I noticed that on Christmas morning, I got the same presents I'd seen in the closet crarrying "From Santa" labels -- and they still had department store price stickers on them. "Hey Ma," I asked with big round innocent eyes, "howcome Santa shops at Mammoth Mart?"

Sigh. I guess I just wasn't a very magical child. All you parents out there, remember to take the price tags off!

 

[ScionPI2005]

I learned the truth when I was 12. Up until that time, I was actually beginning to question the whole Santa thing.

Anyway, that year, I requested for Santa to leave a present under the little Christmas tree that I still decorate in my room every year. I also left the milk and cookies out.

Then of course I couldn't sleep, and suddenly spied my mom coming in my room, getting the cookies and milk, and leaving a gift under my tree.

According to her, I confronted her in the hall just a few moments later, my eyes in tears saying, "I saw you!"

Still, the spirit is still there.

 

[Viola]

Well, I never did the Santa thing, but my parents told me when I was four or five.

"we know you're way, way too nice and way too grown-up and just too good to try and ruin something your friends like and believe in. So we know you won't do that. Its not real, but it doesn't hurt anything. And if you told them and made them sad, you'd get in trouble with us - but its not going to happen, right?"

I never spilled.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I wonder sometimes if the Santa Claus myth is the first cause for some of life's later disappointments and frustrations.

I'm all for telling children 'fairy tales' and stories but I believe in truth - I think those stories should be prefaced with something like, "This is a fun story to tell, but like most of what you'll read and see on T.V. and the movies, it's not factual. It's just a fun story for us to pass on as entertainment."

Much of what the human race 'believes' is myth, parable, story, and outright fabrications. To teach a child that that is TRUTH, and to trick them repeatedly in an attempt to make something real that isn't, is the worst kind of teaching and parenting (in my opinion!). Children are set up for disappointment, frustration, suspicion, lack of trust, and cynicism - usually starting with this one 'fairy tale'. That soon carries on into religious myths, political myths, and social myths. Is it any wonder that things like teen suicide, drug abuse, and depression and anxiety are so prevalent?

I'm for truth and honesty, especially when it comes to educating children. Why set up the next generation for the same disappointments and disallusionment of the previous.

This 21st Century is a good time to begin honest interaction with children and fortifying the underlying truth, facts and realities of life.

Thus spake Dixon Cannon. Carry on.

-me

 

[Doh!]

My eldest one used to believe it wholeheartedly until her classmates at the Christian school told her that it wasn't real. They told her it was your parents who placed Santa's gift under the tree, ate those cookies and drank the milk, and so on.

Proving once again that kids can be rotten. My elder sister ruined it for me when I was 7 and she was 11. Told me totally on purpose.

Rotten kid.

 

[Gilbey]

Was it the kids that told her this or was it the teacher? If it was the teacher, man would I be ticked. :rage:

Don't worry Gilbey, all is not lost.....I have a plan

It was just the kids that told her. You know how peer presure can be a strong influence among them.

But thanks for that ingenious plan. Now I've got to find me a fat neighbor to do the job. lol

 

[Mocheman]

Or start anonymously leaving a friend boxes of twinkies. After all, you've got a few months to work on it

 

[Starius]

I wonder sometimes if the Santa Claus myth is the first cause for some of life's later disappointments and frustrations.

I'm all for telling children 'fairy tales' and stories but I believe in truth - I think those stories should be prefaced with something like, "This is a fun story to tell, but like most of what you'll read and see on T.V. and the movies, it's not factual. It's just a fun story for us to pass on as entertainment."

Much of what the human race 'believes' is myth, parable, story, and outright fabrications. To teach a child that that is TRUTH, and to trick them repeatedly in an attempt to make something real that isn't, is the worst kind of teaching and parenting (in my opinion!). Children are set up for disappointment, frustration, suspicion, lack of trust, and cynicism - usually starting with this one 'fairy tale'. That soon carries on into religious myths, political myths, and social myths. Is it any wonder that things like teen suicide, drug abuse, and depression and anxiety are so prevalent?

I'm for truth and honesty, especially when it comes to educating children. Why set up the next generation for the same disappointments and disallusionment of the previous.

This 21st Century is a good time to begin honest interaction with children and fortifying the underlying truth, facts and realities of life.

Thus spake Dixon Cannon. Carry on.

-me

Well, you know, most very old fairy tales were actually quite violent and morbid by today's fairytale standards. Perhaps they were that way for a reason, and making them all sweet and friendly has done a disservice to them?

Personally, I'm all for anything that creates the feeling of magic and wonderment in childhood. I wish I had more of that as an adult. (Happens every once in awhile, but not nearly enough.)

 

[scotrace]

Personally, I'm all for anything that creates the feeling of magic and wonderment in childhood. I wish I had more of that as an adult. (Happens every once in awhile, but not nearly enough.)

Yes! Exactly so.

 

[mikepara]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT are you lot talking about Christmas for already!!

Hear that sound? It's me running to hide for 2 & half months!

 

[Twitch]

Kids are cruel little monsters.

 

[jazzzbaby]

My heart is sad for you. I have a child that is about to turn 3, and
I so don't want her to lose that wonderful innocence & imagination that comes
with everyday play and with the holidays. I can feel your remorse in this and it's sad that she says it as something that was a lie. It's weird though...I recall being told the truth b/c my father thought that I had caught him & my mother being Santa. I hadn't...I just thought he had been there and they
had heard him. After my father told me the truth, I cried my eyes out and felt so betrayed. I was only seven years old, and I didn't want the magic
to end. Regardless, Christmas magic does exist and it does come from the light within each of us. I love that movie "Polar Express" - it makes me tear up at the end because they all lose the ability to hear the bell except the one who held it dear.


And....(a bit off topic)
Children are continuing to lose their childhood earlier & earlier these days.
I am almost convinced that it won't be long till they lose it the day they are born. Cramming children full of knowledge at ages of 1 or 2, leads to
a total lack of imagination. Even Einstein said imagination is more
important than knowledge. I think kids should be allowed to be kids as
well as have a fun-filled way learning (hands on) - There are people around
here that have their children taking night math classes on top of preschool.
One child I know of is 3 years old! She cries because she doesn't want to
go to math classes at night. But the parents want her to learn this brilliant method of math where the numbers are fed into their minds and when multiplication comes up she will just immediately 'know' the answer rather
than have to 'figure' it out. I say baloney. Viva Imagination! It is what
fuels that magic within our hearts and fuels the blueprint of new frontiers.

 

[staggerwing]

Even as a young child, I always had an interest in science, and was quite the experimenter at a very early age. Some of the first real books I read were about science and the scientific method...so, I questioned everything. When I growing up, every Christmas eve, the TV news would report a strange object being tracked on radar and show footage of Air Force jets being scrambled to intercept the UFO, which of course would then be identified by the pilots as Santa.

Even against this backdrop, at the ripe old age of 7, I did some thinking and figuring and...well there was just no way Santa could get around to millions and millions of houses in a single night. And as an avid follower of Project Mercury, I knew that a spaceship travelling at 17,000 mph was heated to thousands of degrees when it hit that atomsphere. Santa would have to go alot faster than that. He, along with all the toys, would most certainly be incinerated!

Well, I announced my findings to my dad, who was fixing dinner at the time. He didn't try to convince me otherwise. He did say, "don't tell your brother." Well, just then, there was a knock on the door. I ran to open it, thinking of course it was one of my friends. Inagine my shock. There stood Santa Claus! I was sure I wasn't getting an more Christmas presents. I remained somewhat poised for a 7 year old in that prediciment though - I slammed the door in Santa's face and said "Dad, it's for you!"

We lived on a military base at the time, and they had hired Santa to go around and pass out candy to all the kids. But, after that, I believed until I was about 46.

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

At our house, Santa leaves real footprints on the floor after he has visited. My daughter, who is 19, still doesn't know how that happens, and I told her that it is magical parent-only knowledge that I will impart to her when her own daughter is old enough to believe. My son loves the Santa footprints, and if they weren't there on Christmas morning, I think he would be very puzzled.

I still believe in Santa Claus. I always will.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

(Originally Posted by Starius
Personally, I'm all for anything that creates the feeling of magic and wonderment in childhood. I wish I had more of that as an adult. (Happens every once in awhile, but not nearly enough.)

Yes! Exactly so.

I certainly do too! It's called Disneyland, and North Pole Alaska, and Pirates World in Florida. All magic and wonderment for children and adults alike, but nobody tries for years on end to deceive themselves or their children that any of it is true or based in fact. It's just a flight of fantasy for a few days every couple of year, perhaps. There are thousands of books and movies and plays that are also magic and wonderment - again there is no trickery or deceit to convince that the characters or story is REAL.

Some of my own favorites as a child were Grimm's and Lewis Carroll, but even those stories were never presented as real, factual, or truthful. The characters were never used as leverage for good behavior or chores - no one ever suggested that that the Mad Hatter would show up with gifts if I was nice and not naughty!

I think there is greater lesson that could be conveyed during the Winter solstice; whether that's religious, spiritual or social. Maybe a child knowing that Mommy & Daddy work all year to provide for them and then take time out to celebrate by buying gifts and treats for them teaches a lesson about work and effort, and thrift and generosity that is greater than a mythical story about a stranger that drops by to unload a batch of toys made by elves.

It would interesting indeed to hear for FL's that may have experienced a reality based holiday and how it has effected them. Anyone had that experience?

-dixon cannon