We do both the tooth fairy and santa. No harm done. It is all part of being a kid. :)

*chuckling*

I was just having a flashback of when I told my parents that there isn't any Santa. Yes, I said, *I* told THEM, not the other way around. :p

Basically, it was all about process of elimination.

Ok, so the story basically says that Santa would ride across the sky in a sleigh pulled by reindeers (and one with a red nose even!). And that he would deliver toys to all the good little girls and boys all over the world...in one night! Wow! And he would do all of this by sliding down the chimney.

Ok, here's the conclusion I cam to after thinking about all of that:

1) Just the thought of this dude flying in a sleigh didn't seem..."right" to me. (and yes, I thought that at the age of 8!). Yeah, yeah..magic..blah blah...

2) Delivery..all in one night???? Even UPS isn't that good...lol! And as far as "good" boys and girls...oh come on. You know that there were times when you were not as "good" as you should have been close to Christmas time. :o

3) A chimney? We didn't have no damned chimney! OR a fireplace!

4) Saw my dad one year putting the presents under the tree.

So,that was that. I told my parents the next day at breakfast what I had seen and what conclusion I came to. LOL, I think my dad was relieved a bit that he didn't have to tell me. ;)

And, of course, they didn't have to tell me about the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc. either. :D

Sorry to drag this up from the dead, but Case and I were talking about something else which prompted me to go looking up this thread.

LJ, you were right. I suppose I don't actively encourage a belief in Santa, fairies of various sorts, and anthropomorphic animals, I don't exactly discourage it either. Why? Because it's almost as much fun for me as it is for the boy.

but more because it's more fun for them this way.

exactly! Kids are hard wired for make believe!


Why have we reached a time in our history where everything has to be 'proper' and politically correct?

You know kids of the past got over fairy tales and the folklore of their country. People have needed fiction from the begining of time.

Imagine having no fiction books,no movies and no sitting around the campfire telling ghost stories. ho hum! Kids need them especially in troubled times. It gives them a release for their minds. That was the original intent of these storys. I don't regret having mine.

LJ paints the perfect picture. How can anyone have related to that felt any kind of bitterness? I think it's sad when people want to take magic away. Good for you too warch and cyber wolf for keeping magic alive!

Now I know that this post is ancient, but... finding out that youve outwitted your parents and proven them wrong, that youve figured out conclusively that they WERE lying to you, rocks. You feel so... vindicated.

Or maybe I was just a devil-child.

Lady Sidhe had the handle on easing young minds into reality.

There WAS a Santa Claus at one time. It is love in your heart.

There IS a reason for the easter bunny and the christmas tree although not Christian ones. Knowlege is power so ease them into the customs...and replace it or keep it.

Making traditions a family affair about what is kept and what is not in the teen years as I am experimenting with. One thing that never changes is that Christmas cut out cookies are powerful medicine! :drool:

One nice thing about The Cellar is being able to go back and laugh hysterically at stuff you said years ago.

I've reread a lot of the things I said during the 'baby is coming/baby is here' time-frame. If I could go back in time and tell my then-self one thing, it would be this:

"You don't know. You can't know. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, but know damn well that all your planning is nothing but a rough draft. It doesn't matter that you know nothing about being a dad, it matters that you care to know. Your child's personality will dictate your parenting style, not vice-versa.

Also: burp cloths are not a 'nice thing to have'. They're a necessity."

hahah I was wondering why ONE thread captured the attention of so many 'old timers' I was feeling happy for LJ.

haha ..oh boy :blush:

You're all full of shit. There is so a Santa Claus and he brings me presents every year.

Well, he leaves 'em at my Mom's to save time but he still brings 'em, it says so right on the tags.

Parents who stress over the "lying" aspect of the fantasy of Santa, tooth fairy, etc are skipping over the chance to have some great times with their kids when they are still young enough to be both cute and fun.

The original intent of folktales and fairytales was as teaching stories ... they serve a useful purpose in terms of modelling correct and incorrect behavior as well as the consequences. Doesn't matter whether the story is Little Red Riding Hood or one of the stories about Coyote and his wandering penis.

First, I believe it is every parent's right to raise their children according to their own belief system, including whether or not to teach them about Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, or other cultural ideas.

Secondly, I personally feel it's kind of a shame when parents don't include mythical figures and stories in their personal teaching system. Kids are different than adults, and you can't always impose what to adults are rational belief systems. It takes some of the fun out of being a kid. And kids WANT to believe.

My grandson was told at a young age that there was no Santa Claus. He would tell everyone, very superiorly, at about age 5, that there was no Santa Claus. We had to keep him away from his littler cousins at one point, because their parents did not want the illusion shattered.

Oddly, after a change in circumstances, a change in stepfather, and a couple more years, that same child got all excited about Santa Clause last Christmas, even after he knew for sure, that Santa Claus wasn't real. Like I said, kids want to believe, they want to be part of the fun and the shared cultural excitement.

That sounds like evidence in favor of honesty. He can enjoy the fun of Santa without the lying.

We do both, it is important for both the encouragement of imagination and for their ability to learn to question authority. Something I'm teaching him all the time.
Finally, it's good fun.

We taught our kids about the magic of Santa. When they were about 6 we started to "slip up" on purpose. We would start buying the adult stocking presents when they were with us. we would ask them who they were going to help surprise that year by helping Santa out and giving an extra gift to. When they started to suggest there was no Santa, we would answer with "are you sure? Do you really want to say there is no Santa... you know if you say that, there may not be any gifts under the tree for you". That being said they always put out the cookies (making sure they were ones Dad liked) and made sure there were carrots out as well.

Santa always gave a stocking to each person regardless of age, and one present to each adult and several to each child. The presents were never better than the ones given from Mom and Dad, or other family members, and as they grew up the number lessened. My son was 11 last Christmas, and he was so proud that he saved enough money (allowance, extra chores, shoveling walks) to not only buy all the gifts he was giving with his own money, but he also bought Dad's Santa gift as well.

The tooth fairy was shattered quite early, as he moved his tooth from under his pillow, and I woke him looking for it, and had to leave the room before he woke up all the way. The next morning he said " the tooth fairy must be really busy, cause she forgot me". I suggested I would purchase each tooth for the same as she would and he loved that idea. He would come up to me with his tooth and say, "trade you for a dollar Mom" If the tooth had a filling in it, it was only worth 50 cents. :)
We never did do the Easter bunny. We decorated eggs and had an egg hunt, but that was about it. I am Wiccan, my husband is Atheist with a strong sense of giving to others and spending time with family. So we compromised, we do the Wiccan "Easter" and the "mainstream" Christmas.

I guess keeping the magic of giving is what we celebrate more than Santa, the tooth fairy, or the Easter bunny. We try to create great memories with family and friends, celebrating the magic of the season (whichever one it is).

the "Santa" presents are usually the ones too big or awkward to wrap.

There is a magic and wonder in the world that every child is entitled to receive. Parents should consider how to provide that, in line with their personal belief system.

I disagree about correct modeling of behavoir and consequences in terms of Fairytales.

oh...oh...and I never heard about little Red Riding Hood taking a sexual connotation! If this is what you get from it then the assumption that it is a moral story isn't exclusive or the orignial intent.

I think maybe those would be Fabels that tell a moral story.

...but this is just MY opinion. We can each have our own. ;)

I have a friend that uses Santa (on her speed-dial of all things) as her trump-card for bad behavior... I HATE it. Santa should be a good memory for kids. For him it is always a threat. It is all I can do to hold my tongue.

I really love that he, my son, believes, I never did... it just was not in me for some reason. I've never had faith in anything. I can remember humoring my parents and other kids at three.

Grow some nads and tell them they are fuck heads. JMHO.

Wikipedia has a good article on fairy tales. Among other things, it says that no one set of meanings can be ascribed, and that the Brothers Grimm and others toned down the sexual themes and upped the violence in the tales.

and the article on the tooth fairy says it's a House Elf! and also says:

My wife's friend actually, but there is a LOT more to the story.