Is there anyone else who doesn't do the whole "Santa" thing?

[3boymthr]

This is a difficult discussion for anyone. My kids believe and have believed since they were little - Oldest DS figured it out a few years ago but still gets excited about christmas and doesn't feel betrayed. We have told him that for the rest of his life he will have to "believe" simply because you don't want to upset little kids who do wholeheartedly believe.

We had a child at scouts the other week telling everyone that santa wasn't real, he was dead and his real name was x and he had been dead for 500 years and was persistent and actually rude about it - "He's Dead he died in x year" on and on.... This was upsetting the other children who do believe and actually started a physical fight among the kids. Not pretty. It was a difficult situation because while his parents may not want him to believe there are others who do and there I was caught in the middle. I pulled him aside and I politely asked him to hold his opinions as it was upsetting the other childrend. When he said then "Well, Santa's fake and he's dead". I responsed to the child by saying Santa is "real" as he is the personification of gift giving and makes giving gifts a joyful and happy thing for many people and that if he didn't want to believe he didn't have to but he needed to keep his opinions to himself. He stopped insisting that santa was dead to the other children, dropped the subject entirely actually, which seemed to satisfy all the children.

If you don't want to believe then don't, just educate your child that Santa is like politics and that others might react negatively to their opinions and to not force his opinions on the other children as it could lead to problems.

 

[nyyankeegirl]

Why would you want her children to LIE? I do not get this at all.

Not that we'd want the children who don't do Santa to lie, but just not spoil it for the ones who do believe. We are friends w/ a family who don't "do" Santa, and last year the kindergartener yelled out in class, while writing letters to Santa, that Santa is not real. His teacher was upset, but diffused the situation.
And now this year, the same family, the 9 yr. old keeps telling DS7 that Santa is not real, it's just your parents putting presents under the tree. DS was upset that night & talked to DH about it. I just don't understand why the boys can't keep their mouths closed- I think the parents should be doing a better job of making their kids understand that "most" families do Santa, so they need to be courteous. My children are still taught that Jesus is the reason why we celebrate Christmas, not Santa.