No matter what you do, you can still pretend that [name_f]Santa[/name_f] is real. That’s what I’ve done. It’s just fun to believe, even when you know the truth.
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Ours oldest is just turning 2 this year so we haven’t really dealt with this issue yet. However we plan on just not making it a ‘thing’ if that makes sense.
[name_f]My[/name_f] parents never promoted nor discouraged [name_f]Santa[/name_f], if we wanted to believe they would let us, if we out right asked they would give us an honest answer but also tried not to ruin the magic by asking us what we believed then having the discussion be led by us so that it was always age appropriate and wasn’t destroying our beliefs but more allowing us to come to our own conclusions and figure things out for ourselves.
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My mom growing up was a decorator fanatic. She would go all out for Halloween and Christmas. The Santa tradition was a part of that. Of course, I eventually found out the truth and had to keep it a secret from my brother practically till I moved out. My son Micah is almost three and he is starting to get more into the holidays. My husband and I decided not to do the Santa thing. Like at all. So no photos with Santa. We also plan on not giving our kids too many gifts. So last year we were planning a cruise instead of presents but for obvious reasons, we didn’t so we just went to my husband’s family’s house instead. Of course, relatives give the kids gifts which we try to limit and we ask for stuff like books and clothes instead of toys. This year we’re just gonna get about ten gifts or under. Once this Covid thing is over we want to give experiences instead of presents for Christmas. When he gets older like 4 and his preschool starts talking about it we’ll just tell him some people have a different belief system. We do worry about him “ruining” it for other kids but I suppose that’s one of those things you have to deal with when it comes up.
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I have a 7 and 4 year old. When we do presents under the tree 3/4 are from us and the rest [name_f]Santa[/name_f]. I feel like when the time comes and their friends start telling them [name_f]Santa[/name_f] isn’t real, it’s less of a blow because most of the presents were from mum and dad anyway.
I still very much tell my boys about [name_u]Saint[/name_u] [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m] though and childhood is so precious, I will try to keep them believing in the magic of [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] and [name_f]Santa[/name_f] [name_m]Claus[/name_m] for as long as I can lol
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Great explanation. I’ll be saying a similar sort of thing when my eldest is older.
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To me the blow wasn’t at all about the presents, it was about the magic not being real. I think [name_f]Santa[/name_f] [name_m]Claus[/name_m] should give just one present to each child anyways. That’s how it used to be before consumerism got out of hand.
I guess it’s how you define what the magic is but for most kids, part of the magic/ excitement is opening presents or ‘thinking Santa has been’? Especially with young children, which is what I meant when I said may ‘lessen the blow comment’
But then mine are young and I think perhaps this is the same for a lot of kids and it would be unreasonable to think otherwise.
For us as a family, it’s about quality, festive time together and just being honest I get immense joy watching my children’s faces when they come down in the morning. I love Christmas for so many reasons but mostly now I love it for my kids.
A big memory for me growing up was my parents working their a$$ of to give me and my siblings a great Christmas. I learnt humility from a young age and I have passed this onto my sons.
For me christmas encompassed many things, the festive food, the spending time together, the joy of Christmas morning. And I appreciated it all as my parents worked two jobs each to provide, so we knew the meaning of their sacrifice/work ethic. Which wasn’t just about presents but it was about giving us the memories and a nice day.
The notion of Christmas and Saint Nick is about humility and kindness therefore in my family. I teach my boys both (I like to think I do) and I guess that’s how we preserve the essence/magic of Christmas and Santa Claus.
My son’s wrap gifts for each other and they get a small amount of money to buy mummy and daddy a gift, with often hilarious results. To reciprocate the idea of giving and not just receiving.
Last year, I made a kind of giving schedule too in the community and my son’s participated and really enjoyed helping.
Some of the things we did were
Buy food for a homeless person.
Give away toys to women and children in domestic violence shelters.
Donate old bedding and towels to animal centres.
Left a small amount of money in an envelope on a stranger’s doorstep.
Made Christmas cards for our elderly in our village (which went down so well)
I think if people sucumb to consumerism with regards to Christmas then yeah I can see why it may feel like that. It doesn’t have to be though. I’ve always tried to strike a balance between giving my kids a great day/memories and yes presents, whilst at the same time teaching them to be giving, with their time and charity.
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For my family [name_f]Santa[/name_f] does the stockings and the family does the presents under the tree. After my sibling and I realised [name_f]Santa[/name_f] wasn’t real the stockings became a secret [name_f]Santa[/name_f], each family member doing one stocking. Neither of us were scarred by this and I plan continue this with my children.
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THIS! I have to say that I think so many put the magic only on the idea of Santa but that doesn’t necessarily has to be it. Each family in a sense has to decide what that “magic” is for the season.
For my kids it’s not a belief in Santa but it is in….
The birth of Jesus! We make a special dessert sing happy birthday. Blow out candles.
Enjoy going to our Christmas Eve services. They always are more special and have added extra elements this time of year.
Christmas books, movies and songs! I can tell you we start listening to the music once November hits.
Going to see Christmas lights.
Finding our Shepherd. While most out there are looking for elves on the shelf I was able to find a Christian version- same idea of finding their Shepherd each day but for a different reason then this is someone reporting to Santa
This time of year has so much specialness to it. There can be magic without Santa just like there can be magic with Santa. It’s just figuring out what works for your family!
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I grew up believing in [name_f]Santa[/name_f]. When I was about seven, I began to realize that [name_f]Santa[/name_f] wasn’t real, but I pretended I still believed just because of how fun and magical and sweet the whole idea was. When I was probably nine or ten I gave up the act, but I never stopped believing in the beauty of it. I love christmas. I love [name_f]Santa[/name_f]. I love the magic of it all. I never, ever once felt sad or disappointed that [name_f]Santa[/name_f] wasn’t real. Because [name_f]Santa[/name_f] is real. [name_f]Santa[/name_f] is an amazing representation of kindness, family, hope, and warm christmas spirit, all put together in the form of a kind old man from a very snowy place who brings presents to children around the world to make them happy. I can’t imagine growing up without listening for [name_f]Santa[/name_f] and his reindeer every night on christmas eve, and I can swear to the [name_u]North[/name_u] Pole that I still hear them every time. How? It’s just a little christmas magic.
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Oh my gosh this is so sweet 
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[name_f]My[/name_f] DH and I have been leaning towards not celebrating [name_f]Santa[/name_f] in the traditional way. Our DD is three and a half so we’ll need to fully commit to that plan sooner rather than later haha.
I think we’ll probably tackle it that [name_f]Santa[/name_f] is a character based on a real person. I don’t think we’ll avoid [name_f]Santa[/name_f] books or movies/tv-shows - I don’t see any reason she can’t enjoy Santa-themed things the same way she enjoys [name_f]Paw[/name_f] Patrol without thinking it’s real. I think the hardest part will be the whole “not spoiling it for other kids” thing 
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Maybe it’s a difference in cultures but where I grew up the gift-bringers (Santa or baby Jesus) didn’t really play such a huge role in the [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] magic, which, to me, has always been more about the time leading up to the 24th/25th - the songs, the baking, the advent calendar, the lights and decorations, getting a tree, meeting friends to go the [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] market, making wish lists, watching movies, lighting candles - [name_f]Santa[/name_f] has no part in any of that. But I do think it’s worth that little bit of extra magic to include him for one hour on [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] until the kids outgrow him (if you have several kids you can also include the older ones in being [name_f]Santa[/name_f] for the younger ones) and by that time he could be replaced by a different gift giving tradition such as a family secret [name_f]Santa[/name_f] or a white elephant gift exchange.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] from personal experience, the people I know that celebrated [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] growing up but didn’t have [name_f]Santa[/name_f] tend to feel like they missed out on something while the kids who grew up with the “lie” of [name_f]Santa[/name_f] never felt that they were being lied to.
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[name_f]My[/name_f] family did not do [name_f]Santa[/name_f]. I don’t think my parents ever told us [name_f]Santa[/name_f] wasn’t real, but “Santa didn’t come to our house”. [name_f]My[/name_f] grandparents did [name_f]Santa[/name_f] so we’d have presents there from [name_f]Santa[/name_f], but never in our home. I think at first I just thought of [name_f]Santa[/name_f] as similar to [name_m]Rudolph[/name_m] or Frosty, just a character in a movie. But when I was a little older I remember feeling a little sad [name_f]Santa[/name_f] didn’t come to our house because all my friends’ expensive/fancy gifts came from [name_f]Santa[/name_f] and not their parents. But I figured they needed it more than we did since I got plenty of nice presents, just not the big-ticket items they seemed to get from [name_f]Santa[/name_f].
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