If you don't do santa...

[jam's mum]

Originally Posted by Yarnjess I grew up knowing that Santa Claus wasn't really real. My parents told us he was pretend. So, we left out cookies and milk and got presents from "Santa" as part of the pretend, but we knew it was mom and dad who ate the cookies and left the presents and stocking stuffers. Honestly, I insisted on leaving out cookies and milk through high school. It's a fun tradition. It's possible to "do" Santa without lying. I plan on doing the same with my DD when she's older (she's 6 months, so it's not really a thing this year).

This is how I want to present Santa to my daughter. Family pretend play

[mommy2abigail]

We read the true story of St. Nicolas to them, and tell them that while we don't celebrate Santa the way others do, we remember his spirit of giving. And we try to remember that and help those who are in need at this time of year. Funny thing is that we also don't do a huge Jesus birth day emphasis either, even though we are Christians. My kids know that we remember his birth at this time of year, but realistically it didn't happen on that day, kwim?

[bluedaisyma]

My 2 yr old loves to play Santa and wear a hat and ride in a "sled" (a box) and talks about reindeer....just as much as he talks about frosty or pretends to be a kitty. So I don't have to tell him Santa isn't real, we don't do Santa but I don't tell him he can't pretend. He doesn't think a creepy old dude sneaks into his house and leaves gifts or anything. We will talk about the real st nick when it comes up.

[Ally's Fuzzies]

We have explained to my two year old that some people like to pretend that Santa brings gifts at Christmas time, but she knows that gifts come from family. We have been framing it as a game that people play.

Next year we will talk about St. Nicholas and work on not ruining the "game" for other people, but this is working for us now.

[hilaryisinked]

Originally Posted by Ally's Fuzzies We have explained to my two year old that some people like to pretend that Santa brings gifts at Christmas time, but she knows that gifts come from family. We have been framing it as a game that people play. Next year we will talk about St. Nicholas and work on not ruining the "game" for other people, but this is working for us now.

That's a good idea

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[Erinne]

Originally Posted by FindingMercy Our girls watch Christmas movies and read Christmas books, so they've been exposed to Santa. They just think he's a character just like any other character in a movie or book. We don't even discuss it anymore than we do Angelina ballerina or Elmo.

That's us too. I was even going to use Elmo as an example!

[ajbailey89]

Originally Posted by Ally's Fuzzies We have explained to my two year old that some people like to pretend that Santa brings gifts at Christmas time, but she knows that gifts come from family. We have been framing it as a game that people play. Next year we will talk about St. Nicholas and work on not ruining the "game" for other people, but this is working for us now.

This is a really good idea. I think we'll do this.

[mrspopo]

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[crunch!910]

I guess I take the method of very short explanation that people like to pretend he is real. From there, I'll answer questions, but don't try to ban Santa or control my child's every thought about Santa. He hasn't asked a lot of questions, but when or if he does, I'll be honest. I've told him the story of real St Nick and said that in his memory people like to dress up, play, and pretend, but that his presents really come from mommy, daddy, grandma, auntie, etc, and also encourage him to give/make gifts for others.

[nrsenadenos]

I want to come back and read responses when I get home tonight...but we've never told our kids anything honestly. They've seen movies on TV and stuff so they know who he is, but to them spotting Santa is like spotting the guy in the Ironman costume outside a local cell phone store. It probably helps that we HS and a lot of people we know don't do Santa either.