are you going to teach your child about santa claus?

[wixard]

why/why not?

i'm torn on this.

it's fun for kids so i'd like that, and wouldn't want them ruining other childrens fun by spoiling it because i know any child that comes out of me will definitely do something like that. although saying that why should i create a fictional situation in their minds just to make christmas more enjoyable? i'm sure it's possible without lying but I JUST DUNNO

[scottish]

idk how to justify it or explain it but yes I would definitely :P

[Mark]

Definitely! However the day they ask if Santa is real I'll more than likely tell them the truth, hopefully it wont be until they're around 8ish.

[Alex3213]

Yes I would :)

and not even just for them, but other children too I think. I guess if my child knew Santa Claus wasn't real it could pass on to other children which isn't fair on them I don't think. I know that when I was younger Santa used to make my Christmas much more magical so I think I will :)

[Futz]

I'd lie to them and tell them its real, I dont think anyone is actually scarred/supprised when santa isnt real, well i wasnt, usually the news will be broken to them in school by some little prat in their class so he can do it for me

if he asks me dude to dude I'll tell him the truth

[buttons]

yeah i was thinking this before it's sooo weird how it's like tradition you have to keep passing on, once you're told santa claus isn't real how are you going to pretend to someone else it is.

same wouldn't want to spoil it for other kids but i can also use it as a way to make them behave, IF YOURE NOT GOOD AND DON'T GIVE ME YOUR LAST SWEET SANTA CLAUS WONT COME. but i will also make sure the focus is on spending time with family etc

[-Amyy]

Yeah I'm definitely gonna tell them that santa is real :) I remember when I was younger it was so fun writing letters and stuff

[MyNamesAbbey]

Deffo so I can use the famous line. 'I'm going to ring Santa and tell him you're being naughty! and also so they can put the milk and cookies out so that in the morning they are happy when they see them!

[Munex]

By the time any of us have children, the world would be so politically correct that it would be illegal to bring a child up with the belief of Santa.

[Conspiracy.]

I'll probably do what my dad done. He told me about Santa but as soon as I questioned it he said "believe in what you want but don't believe everything you see/hear"

[Kyle]

We were never told that santa was real so I was never shocked to find out that he wasn't. My parents would buy us those SANTA STOP HERE signs that we'd put up at our window and we'd leave food/drink out for whatever reason but to me those were just rituals we did for fun. Guess I was never really sucked into the whole thing but it made me appreciate that it was my parents that had worked hard to buy my presents, not some fat old bloke giving them out willy nilly :P I'll lay the foundations for the belief but I won't force my children to believe anything.

[Kushja]

why/why not?

i'm torn on this.

it's fun for kids so i'd like that, and wouldn't want them ruining other childrens fun by spoiling it because i know any child that comes out of me will definitely do something like that. although saying that why should i create a fictional situation in their minds just to make christmas more enjoyable? i'm sure it's possible without lying but I JUST DUNNO

I agree entirely with you; I'll bring my daughter up believing in something because everyone has to believe in something, whether it's a dream or an aspiration, or Santa Claus. Just like you said, I'm not going to have my children go to school and ruin other children's Christmas' because it's not fair, despite the fact there are plenty children out there doing so; mine shall not for as much as I can help it.

As some others said, I'm not going to raise them saying he's real, because one day whatever they're age they will be torn about it (yes something so small).

Everyone believes in something and I think it's right to bring your children up believing in something so they can expand that belief in to other things?

That's an awful worded explanation but I hope you get the gist ;)

[FlyingJesus]

Yes definitely I'll make up all sorts of fantastical beings and places for my kids because I want them to grow up with an imagination that isn't bound by the limits of empiricism. When they're old enough to discern fantasy from reality THEN I'll train them in the art of logical thought, but I see both of those things as entirely necessary and would never deprive my kid of an active imagination

[Inseriousity.]

Children need magic in their lives. They've got their whole adulthood to worry about reality.

[e5]

No, I'd keep the magic of Christmas alive for my Children.

[Mikey]

My mum brought me up to believe in Santa but she always said that she gave Santa the money for the presents and that he delivered them to the house. The whole thing about you don't get something for nothing.

[Red]

When I stopped believing I didn't feel betrayed or anything that they had lied. Just appreciative that they had gone to the effort of making it really magical for all those years! Some things my parents did was once putting boot prints on our hall, so we thought they were santas. We also had a santa stop here sign and my patrol man dressed up as santa and called at the house one year. hehe But yea, I would do the same :)

[geo]

i'd tell them santa was real yeah, i wasn't hurt or anything when i found out he wasn't real, guess it was just nice to believe in that hahaaaa

[Samantha]

Deffo so I can use the famous line. 'I'm going to ring Santa and tell him you're being naughty! and also so they can put the milk and cookies out so that in the morning they are happy when they see them!

We got rang by Santa, telling me and my sister to tidy up and go to bed :'(.

Well I'd want them to experience that magic, I wouldn't like to say to them he isn't real as really if they get presents then it would appear just like their birthday to me, yano? I'd love to pretend Santa has been and I keep remembering to myself, wow remember when I thought Santa was real? When you'd try stay up all night just to see him?

[Aiden]

No... Whats the point lool


- Sent from my iPhone 5, Aiden

[SackRace]

Yeah of course! Seeing them writing letters and stuff would be so cute

[Jurv]

definitey. it was one of the best things about christmas when i was younger!

[Seikou]

for sure, it made christmas feel so magical when i was younger. i remember always being so so terrified that if i done something wrong i wouldn't get any presents omg

[Absently]

yeah, actually can't wait. i want them to believe in everything like the toothfairy and the easter bunny!!! i am gonna try my hardest to make it all special.

[garriet]

yeah i will, it made christmas so much more exciting and magical, so hopefully it will for them too :p

[Kardan]

I'm not sure, my parents were like most of you guys, pro-Santa (can't believe that I just put that...), but I don't have any memories of believing in him, and I always seemed to know that he wasn't real. Personally I wouldn't want my kids to believe in it because it just doesn't seem like there's any point, I mean, I'd rather my kids think that I bought the presents rather than an old man who's a stranger ;) But seriously, I'm not too into traditions, but I'm sure I won't get a say in it, whether it will be my wife who gets them into Santa, or the other kids they grow up with.

[GommeInc]

I'd do what my family has always done. Just flow with it, but not make a huge deal out of it. We were never told Santa was real, it was more an ideology and the magic of "where the hell did these presents even come from?" It allows for an imagination but also allows for some rationality.

If we were naughty we were just told we wouldn't get any presents - none of this "Santa doesn't like bad kids" rubbish, because you wouldn't get something for misbehaving whether or not there was a divine being in charge :P It sort of goes beyond the "only behave at Christmas" logic to" always behave all year round.

[KymKo]

I wouldnt hide anything from my kids, its ahard world out there and they need to know what is what.

I would prob tell them at 8-10 ish

[Sian]

eer, I'd teach them that everyone believes in a paedo.

I was so scared of santa when I was young, "see you when you're sleeping" any kid with a brain knows that ain't right. So I wouldn't want to put my kids through what I went through.

[Chris]

Yeah I would, Christmas revolves around santa for kids and I would want them to experience that Christmas magic for as long as possible!

[Martin]

Hell yeah! :D I wouldn't want them to miss out on it because it really is part of growing up and its all part of the magic!

[BreakfastBacon]

wait until they find out themselves but i will tell them before high school I found out when i was liek 5 my sister who is 10 still beleives

[OldLoveSong]

tbh i've thought of this so many times and i still havnt come to a conclusion yet because there's cons and pros to each side.

[Chippiewill]

As an athiest I'm against teaching children that Santa is real as it makes them susceptible to accepting religious deities.

[FlyingJesus]

So you want your kids to have no imagination in case they end up thinking of things that aren't real

[-:Undertaker:-]

As an athiest I'm against teaching children that Santa is real as it makes them susceptible to accepting religious deities.

Will that include Lord of the Rings films?

Oh and fellow Britons, it's 'Father Christmas' not Santa.

[Chippiewill]

Will that include Lord of the Rings films?
Yes I will include the lord of the rings films in the list of stuff I won't tell my children are "real" because that's just plain ******ed.


Oh and fellow Britons, it's 'Father Christmas' not Santa.
Please get over yourself, as long as people know what you're referring to it doesn't matter one jot what you call Mr Noel.

[Whatever]

Yes, because Santa not coming if you don't behave is a good white lie to keep your kids in line during the Holidays, hah.

[LiquidLuck.]

I never really had the Father Santa (Pai Natal in Portuguese) tradition since for us they'd tell us it was Jesus that bought the presents, not really sure why. But he wouldn't come down the chimney like Santa, at 11:30 (yes we used to do it early) he'd close the lights and put it on top of our stove. xD We never really believed it, but it was fun so..

I doubt I'd let them be older than 8 years old and still believe in Santa, because kids in school can be really mean and we had a girl in our class that was 11 and still believed in Santa and we all started making fun of her..

[sex]

no! i will let them find out themselves

[-:Undertaker:-]

Yes I will include the lord of the rings films in the list of stuff I won't tell my children are "real" because that's just plain ******ed.

What about the teletubbies etc when they're younger? what's wrong with children believing in something that isn't real?

It doesn't matter what children are taught - as long as they are open minded, question everything and educated when older, then no harm done.


Please get over yourself, as long as people know what you're referring to it doesn't matter one jot what you call Mr Noel.

It's Father Christmas - ought to be the same as if you heard somebody say 'to-mato' in real life.

[God]

Well ofcource every child needs to beleive in something, and more inportantly ill tell her/him to be good cause santas watching :D
But my present to him from me will be greater then from "santa" as I want him tothank me more