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Is Santa silly?

Arran

I'm writing this as someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas in either a religious or cultural sense. From a young age I was told that Santa doesn't exist and is just a silly hoax that parents play on their kids. It never affected me in any bad way and neither was I expecting to find wrapped presents mysteriously appear on the morning of the 25th day of December. If anybody in my family received a Christmas gift then it was usually opened on the same day. A downside to this is that even from the age of 4 or 5 I went round telling kids at school "Father Christmas isn't real, it's all made up, your parents buy Christmas presents from the shops" which often resulted in me getting into trouble whenever they got upset. I once had to report to the head teacher after completely reducing a classmate to tears.

Is the concept of Santa a silly nonsense or is it part of the joys of childhood? Do you tell your own children the truth or would you prefer to go along with the cultural norm? Is pleasing one's classmates more important than knowing the truth? What about children at school who follow different religions so do not celebrate Christmas - where do they fit in?

Parents

  • IntenseWorld said:
    Notice how you artfully didn't mention the part where I (and others posted further up) was not scarred.

    I can't say that I have encountered any teenagers or adults who are emotionally scarred by the lack of Santa although numerous were left disappointed and dismayed.

    When children hear stories like "Little Red Riding Hood" or "Hanzel & Gretal" they enjoy being scared but they don't believe the stories are real - anymore  than they believe -deep down -that the animals in "Wind in the Willows" live that way in real life but it's enjoyable to fantasize that they do.

    Children know, or can easily be convinced, that these stories are fiction and fantasy whereas Santa is presented to them as fact and truth.

    I suspect it's the same with Santa.  The fact that adults show no concern about a strange man coming down the chimney and walking round the house in the dead of night is the give-away but it's in the interests of a child to go along with the fantasy story - and, in all honesty, there is something magical about waking and finding all  those  goodies which have 'magically' appeared.

    Are children who follow religions other than Christianity that know that Santa is a lie missing out on the joys of childhood? Do you feel sorry for them when they wake up on the 25th of December and it's an ordinary day apart from watching the Great Escape? 

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  • IntenseWorld said:
    Notice how you artfully didn't mention the part where I (and others posted further up) was not scarred.

    I can't say that I have encountered any teenagers or adults who are emotionally scarred by the lack of Santa although numerous were left disappointed and dismayed.

    When children hear stories like "Little Red Riding Hood" or "Hanzel & Gretal" they enjoy being scared but they don't believe the stories are real - anymore  than they believe -deep down -that the animals in "Wind in the Willows" live that way in real life but it's enjoyable to fantasize that they do.

    Children know, or can easily be convinced, that these stories are fiction and fantasy whereas Santa is presented to them as fact and truth.

    I suspect it's the same with Santa.  The fact that adults show no concern about a strange man coming down the chimney and walking round the house in the dead of night is the give-away but it's in the interests of a child to go along with the fantasy story - and, in all honesty, there is something magical about waking and finding all  those  goodies which have 'magically' appeared.

    Are children who follow religions other than Christianity that know that Santa is a lie missing out on the joys of childhood? Do you feel sorry for them when they wake up on the 25th of December and it's an ordinary day apart from watching the Great Escape? 

Children
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