Santa equals LYING to your children?? D&D

So I'm one of those super realistic parents who doesn't lie to my children at all. If they ask me a question I answer it, whether it's about death or babies or sex or whatever, I'll just tell them. I mean, I do so in a "kid friendly" way, but I don't lie or sugar coat smurf.

Anyway, I kind of feel like I'm lying to my children when I talk about Santa... I think it's weird. I mean, Santa isn't real and I don't want to lie to my kids. That's just not right. And honestly, my kids aren't dumb. My oldest is four and we were watching the Christmas classics on Netflix and he goes, "How are those deer flying? Deer can't fly..." Then he says, "Where is the North Pole? Isn't that really far away? How does Santa get there? That's too far..." Then we watched one and he goes, "Well that's just a man dressing up like a Santa...", so he knows LOL About the deer thing I told him "It's magic", but obviously magic isn't real either and I don't want to tell my kids that animals can fly... LMAO

So thoughts on this? How do you ladies deal with this? I'm not religious either, so we don't celebrate Jesus' birthday or anything like that, so I don't need any advice from that angle... LOL

Anyway, D&D

I'd rather lye to them about a jolly old guy who brings them stuff than a invisible floaty guy who's as jealous and misdirected as a 14 yo girl. Because if you don't do what the nice 2000 year old book says, you'll go to hell.


I never understood the whole "we don't do santa" smurf.

It is a form of lying and I don't know if it's just innocent child fantasy you're giving in to or setting them up for huge disappointment later on in life. We don't go see Santa nor do we sign gift tags as being from Santa.


ETA: We don't go see Santa because I know LB would freak out and I refuse to spend that much money on one photo a year when I can have many taken for so much cheaper by a friend. Also, we don't sign gift tags at all because LB isn't even two and can't read.   I believed in Santa and I'm sure we'll tell him later that Santa is the one who brings his gifts. I liked doing the whole cookie routine on Christmas Eve with my dad so I see no reason to not do it with LB.

Well, it IS a lie, you know. I know people say it's imagination and etc, but when you're pretending or imagining, you KNOW it's not real. Children are led to believe that Santa is real. It IS a lie and there is no way about it. That being said, I respect the fact it's something that's important to a lot of people and there are strong emotional ties to it, so I think there are far worse things to do to your kid. But, I didn't believe in Santa growing up and I don't particularly want to teach my child to either. The lying is only one of the aspects about the Santa myth that I disagree with.

DD asked and I told her the truth. I don't like lying to her and for some reason, she just KNEW Santa isn't real. Her exact words after I told her were "It just didn't make sense".

Well if you know Santa is not real and tell your kids he is, you're lying.
It's just the facts. No matter what the reason you tell them about its still not the truth. So if you tell them about Santa you can't say you don't lie to them about anything. I choose not to teach my son about Santa, because of this fact also I'm not about to give credit to a man that doesn't exist.

Quoting Devil Duckie:" I'd rather lye to them about a jolly old guy who brings them stuff than a invisible floaty guy who's ... [snip!] ... don't do what the nice 2000 year old book says, you'll go to hell. I never understood the whole "we don't do santa" smurf. "

We don't really do Santa because we don't do Christmas at all in any form.

Well yeah, it's lying.

But I never once hated my mom for lying about Santa, I'm happy she let me believe in him. I'll be lying to LO about Santa too  

I was just talking about this the other day at work.. Well Santa Claus was real. His character is based off a guy who brough presents to the poor right.. St. Nickolas or whatever.. I mean, there is some truth behind him and his gift giving..

when we had our daughter we decided we wouldnt tell her about santa... She has since learned about him and believes in him. We tried telling her he wasnt real but she refuses to believe it. Therefore we gave in and havent told her any different this year...

We watch Santa movies and read the books...but my kids just think hes a character like spongebob, mickey..etc. They know we buy the presents and we don't take them to sit on Santa's lap either.

Personally I think it's all in good fun. I had a blast as a kid leaving cookies for Santa and getting my presents from Santa.

I am was not and am not scarred from being "lied" to about Santa. I have only happy memories of believing in Santa and I want DS to have them too.

Technically, yes it is lying. I want to preserve my child's innocence and give them the feeling of something "magical." Something about seeing their eyes light up when we talk about Santa makes it worth while. They will only be young for so long before they are grown up and then it's gone.

Quoting Nicola =):" Personally I think it's all in good fun. I had a blast as a kid leaving cookies for Santa and getting ... [snip!] ... not scarred from being "lied" to about Santa. I have only happy memories of believing in Santa and I want DS to have them too."

  

This exactly

I wouldn't say it's lying, i would call it fibbing.   It's fun for kids to use their imagination and get all excited. My daughter is 3 and just loves Christmas. I hope when my daughter goes to kindergarden some little boy or girl doesn't ruin it for her, just because their parents don't want to join in on the fun.