On the radio

[Pagan]

I heard this one on the radio station I listen to in the mornings.

On Thursdays, they will have someone call in with a problem and then take calls from other people with advice. Really quite interesting.

Well, this last Thursday, a lady called in and her kid is starting to ask questions about Santa Claus. Kids at school are telling him he's not real. The general consensus was for the lady to tell her kid that the kids at school didn't know what they were talking about. You know, let 'em believe, what does it hurt? They'll figure it out eventually on their own. I figured it out when I started recognizing my parents handwriting on the gift tags. But, to this day, we all still get a couple of presents from Santa!

Except for this one woman. She wanted her little kid to know it was her and not Santa. Her reason why was, I thought, very selfish. She kept going on and on that she was a single mother and she spent all the money on the Christmas presents, that she worked, and how she should get all the credit, not Santa. I just thought that was a horribly selfish attitude to have. Like she just doesn't get what Christmas should be, especially for little kids.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Geez, part of the whole magic of Christmas is the Santa Claus part! Besides, if your kids are young enough to believe in Santa, they're probably too young to really appreciate all the things that mom does to provide those presents, so what difference does it make? Let them have a little magic...

[ForestDragon]

Reminds me of a semi-humorous thing I heard; I forget where...

"How's Christmas like work? Because you bust your ass and some fat guy in a suit gets all the credit."

[Tex]

When I am lucky enough to have children of my own, the day they start hearing rumors about Santa Claus, I will tell them the truth. I want to be an honest parent and not bullshit anything. I can picture it now...

K: Kids
M: Me (DEE DEE DEE!)

K: "Where do babies come from?"
M: Well there, Jack (or whatever I name him/her), when a mommy and a daddy really love each other and want children, they go into their bedroom and have sex, and if they're lucky, 9 months or so later, a child pops out of the mommy's vagina."

Ok, I'm exaggerating there. I won't be like Dr. Cox, but I don't want to make up a bunch of crap I don't have to, if ya' know what I mean.

Tex

[Gurndigarn]

I never did Santa with my kids. I didn't stop them from picking it up elsewhere, but I never pretended he existed. My reasoning was that I would rather have kids know that they're getting presents from loving family and friends, or even kind strangers, rather than coming from some vouyeristic elf.

I hope there's a difference between that and "I want all the credit!"

[Pagan]

I hope there's a difference between that and "I want all the credit!"

Oh, there definitely is. With this hag it was just downright selfish. It was all her, her, her, and what she did.

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

Yeah, sounds stupid.

But I never believed in Santa (I was a born atheist in every way) but I really always enjoyed Christmas with as much passion and emotion as any kid ever could.

how could this be? Well, Santa is a game I thoroughly enjoyed playing my whole life. Did I ever wonder if Santa might be real? Of course! Did I think I might've seen his boot? Sure! But it was always a game, and always a great game.

Sure, my gifts were from Santa. My parents became Santa every Christmas, because Christmas took them outside of themselves and opened up something really special inside of them. It showed me just how great they were.

[XCashier]

I never did Santa with my kids. I didn't stop them from picking it up elsewhere, but I never pretended he existed.

When I am lucky enough to have children of my own, the day they start hearing rumors about Santa Claus, I will tell them the truth. I want to be an honest parent and not bullshit anything.

Same here. I don't want to lie to my child.

The grandparents, on the other hand...Santa this, Santa that...

[JustADude]

Sure, my gifts were from Santa. My parents became Santa every Christmas, because Christmas took them outside of themselves and opened up something really special inside of them. It showed me just how great they were.

Sooooo, you're saying Santa Claus is a state of mind?

[GingerBiscuit]

Oh, we all still get presents from Father Christmas. And Mother Christmas, and the Elves, and the Reindeer, sometimes. It's a family tradition, We all get cheap little gifts.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

No wonder I grew up warped and confused . . .

When I was really little, my presents came from "Santa Claus."

As I got older, it was "Santa Mama."

Hey Mom . . . you forgot to tell me about your part time job, didn't you?

[Shabo]

I found out the truth about Santa when I was pretty young (no older than 7). I found my parents putting stuff in my stocking on Christmas Eve one night. I remember saying such to my classmates during art class, and they all argued with me that he WAS real. My art teacher pulled me aside and told me that I shouldn't tell the other kids that he's not real because it would make them sad, or something to that effect. However she phrased it, it made sense to me, and I stopped. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the kids found out anyway.

[Sliceanddice]

you know i dont care about santa or not but that lady was selfish, im ok with not doing santa, hell still believed in santa my self til i was 12, but if it isnt someting you want to engrain in the kids ok, But good to not want to do it because you want the credit? gah
There is something to be said about a feeling of magic in your life once a year.

[Boozy]

I've never considered the Santa thing to be lying. Its just playing make-believe, which is something parents do with their kids all the time.

My dad used to help the four of us make a snack for Santa, and he always used to pretend to clean the chimney "so Santa won't get too dirty." My mom would always use special wrapping paper on our Santa gifts so we'd never suspect. Of course we eventually stopped believing, but I still have fond memories of doing the Santa thing with my parents.

With that said - I can't imagine there is any child out there who's Christmas experience is lessened because their parents choose not to do the Santa thing. To each their own.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Reminds me of a semi-humorous thing I heard; I forget where...

"How's Christmas like work? Because you bust your ass and some fat guy in a suit gets all the credit."

Hey! That is an unfair generalization!

Our guys in suits are slim and trim.