Parents long ago stood in long lines with their children to see Santa

[LadyKay]

 

If you don't know what this (   ) means, you shouldn't be using it. But I believe you do know what it means because you had to seek it out in order to use it. And if you don't want to be a part of something, don't throw yourself in the middle of it.

I apologize if my choice in icons offended anyone. But after all it was only an icon. As for throwing myself into a message board topic.Okay I'm done. When someone gets upset over an icon, I know it is time to get out while I still have some of my sanity intact. Oh and by the way, I pick that icon because I thought it was funny.

 

 

  What am I saying now? LOL Lighten up people it's Christmas !

[other one]

  What am I saying now? LOL Lighten up people it's Christmas !

 

 

 

Can we at least wait till after thanksgiving to get into Christmas  I can be really light for that.

[Guest Butero]

I don't think you are really suggesting that children who believe in Santa Claus become pathological liars!! And you are correct in saying that children have plenty of time to develop their imagination without Santa. As I said, I did not let my children believe in Santa Claus. My contribution here is from my experience in parenting children who are now in their 20's. In retrospect, if I had my parenting years to do all over again, I would lighten up on a lot of issues--Santa being one.

I think it is about as likely that children that are told Santa Claus is real will turn out to be patholigical liars as it is that children that are not taught Santa Claus is real will turn out to be analytical, logical and boring.  I don't think there is any connection. 

 

It comes across like you are thinking your children would have turned out better had you done things different.  Are you saying they are logical, analytical and boring, and you think that is because you didn't let them use their imagination enough?  The only reason I am asking is because you said you have changed your opinion in retrospect concerning how you did things. 

[Guest Butero]

Remember when life as simpler? You could be a Christian and put up a Christmas tree without anyone accusing you of worshiping trees. You could tell your kids stories about Santa without anyone making Santa out to be Satan. The guy who wrote the  poem "Night Before Christmas" was a minister, who wrote it as a bedtime story for his children. Sometimes I think we Christians try to complicate everything. Looking for evil at every turn. We have grown afraid to have fun , for fear that it may lead to evil in someway. This does not just go along with Christmas, but in almost every holiday. You can't even carve a pumpkin on Halloween without some one accusing you of worshiping the devil. Is this really how we want to live? Fearing that Christmas tress and pumpkins will send us and our children to hell?

 

 

if the child believes it's the actual Cinderella from the book, then yes, they are lying.

Seriously? Are we now going to argue about Cinderella?

Why do you care?  Why do people get so upset because others think certain things are wrong?  I put up a Christmas tree, and it doesn't bother me some people accuse me of doing something that was an idolatrous OT practice.  I celebrate Christmas in spite of all the attacks each year.  I don't get upset because people are trying to save me from doing wrong.  Why can't people just accept that we all look at things different, and in a message board, we won't all agree?  I don't believe in lying to kids about Santa Claus and fairy tale characters, but I have made it clear I don't believe in interfering with what parents do, even if they don't agree with me.  If asked, I will give my opinion, but nobody has to agree. 

[Guest]

Remember when life as simpler? You could be a Christian and put up a Christmas tree without anyone accusing you of worshiping trees. You could tell your kids stories about Santa without anyone making Santa out to be Satan. The guy who wrote the  poem "Night Before Christmas" was a minister, who wrote it as a bedtime story for his children. Sometimes I think we Christians try to complicate everything. Looking for evil at every turn. We have grown afraid to have fun , for fear that it may lead to evil in someway. This does not just go along with Christmas, but in almost every holiday. You can't even carve a pumpkin on Halloween without some one accusing you of worshiping the devil. Is this really how we want to live? Fearing that Christmas tress and pumpkins will send us and our children to hell?

 

 

if the child believes it's the actual Cinderella from the book, then yes, they are lying.

Seriously? Are we now going to argue about Cinderella?

 

Thank you, LadyKay. I've been wondering about that myself. :thumsup:

[Guest Butero]

First of all let me say that every parent has the right to tell or not to tell their kids about Santa. We chose to not tell our kids that Santa is real for religious reasons. We want our children to be able to completely trust us, especially when it comes to God. My husband really was hurt by the Santa myth. His parents went out of their way to prove that he was real. So, naturally, he believed them. When they couldn't answer all of his questions about Santa, they finally told him the truth...Santa is not real. Consequently, he questioned the reality of Jesus. When his parents reassured him that Jesus was real, he said "but you said Santa was real, so was is the truth?" They had a very difficult time proving that they were't lying "this time".

Needless to say, he was very confused and not sure what to believe. He did recover eventually, got saved at age 9 and is now a pastor. We opted to spare our kids this trouble.

I'm just saying be careful what you tell your kids. Be honest with them when they ask questions. Our kids knew that Santa was not real. We also told our kids not to tell other kids that Santa wasn't real. They are well adjusted, Jesus loving, parent believing kids.

Thank you for that.  I questioned God after finding out Santa was a lie, and so did my cousin.  Then we have these people in this thread who want to act like this rarely ever happens, because they weren't effected in a negative way.  I would never lie to a child and tell them Santa Claus is real, but like you, I wouldn't interfere with the decision other parents make.  It is and should be their call. 

[Guest Butero]

 

 

 

 

 

if the child believes it's the actual Cinderella from the book, then yes, they are lying.

Seriously? Are we now going to argue about Cinderella?

 

 

I want to thank you for that.       Calling someone a loser is really something to be proud of.  

 

What? I didn't call anyone a loser? What the same hill are you talking about? I didn't call anyone anything! I don't know what the heck is going on here. But I know I do not want to be a part of it. I have enough people accusing me of things I didn't do, I don't need it to happen here as well. 

 

 

 

If you don't know what this (   ) means, you shouldn't be using it. But I believe you do know what it means because you had to seek it out in order to use it. And if you don't want to be a part of something, don't throw yourself in the middle of it. 

 

To be fair Man, I used one of those symbols in a post and it wasn't what I thought it was.  I tried to go back and remove it and couldn't.  It is possible she didn't know. 

[Guest Butero]

 

 

 

 

I'm not saying a child isn't allowed to use their imaginations. What I'm saying is, if a parent purposely misleads a child into believing a fictional character is in fact real, that parent is lying to that child. The parent is urging that child to believe in something that isn't real. They are lying to their child. The intent of the parent is to get the child to believe something that isn't true. It doesn't matter what the object is, if you're trying to convince someone that something exists when you know it doesn't, that's called lying.

 

Why is that so hard to understand?

 

 

What I am trying to get across, is that for a child to believe Santa is real, does not take a parent misleading. If they hear the story, the fairytale, they will believe. The question is, do you allow them to believe, or do you try to squash the belief. Do you go along with it, or try to stop it. It is not lying to go along with a natural part of a childs development. It would be lying if you did things to make that developmental stage go beyond it natural progression. To keep a child believing beyond that stage, would require lying, and tricks to keep them thinking fairytales are true. But, there is no lying, when it is a part of natural development in children.  

 

 

 

Do you see it now?

 

No.

 

I'll repeat. To believe in fairytales is a natural part of a development stage for young children. If a young child betieves that Santa is real, it is because they have heard the story, and talked to other children their age, and/or seen a Santa in a store or mall. The parents haven't lied. Or mislead. It is natural. It is also a wonderous stage for children, and a parent can go with it, or try to stop it. Since this is a normal development stage, I do not think the parents should try to stop it, but let it take its natural course for the sake of the childs development.

 

If you are concerned about your child believing in Santa, never tell them about him. Or don't celebrate Christmas. I personally prefer that as many Christians as possible would celebrate Christmas and make sure that Christmas is about Jesus.

 

I did not grow up celebrating Christmas, or being taught about Santa, so I never believed. But there were other fairytales I probably thought were true simply because, that is the developmental stage of small children. I did not have any issues as I grew out of the stage and stopped believing in fairytales.

 

Accusing parents of young children as being liars or deceivers is simply not understanding children and their development with only one exception. Parents who attempt to prolong that stage, because parents think it is fun.  

 

Yes, I suppose it is possible a child could simply believe Santa Claus is real on their own, but when you tell the child Santa is coming down the chimney with presents, and you leave milk and cookies out for him, you are lying.  I am willing to consider that this is not a sinful lie like bearing false witness or something along those lines, but it is a lie based on the Dictionary definition of a lie. 

[Guest Butero]

 

Remember when life as simpler? You could be a Christian and put up a Christmas tree without anyone accusing you of worshiping trees. You could tell your kids stories about Santa without anyone making Santa out to be Satan. The guy who wrote the  poem "Night Before Christmas" was a minister, who wrote it as a bedtime story for his children. Sometimes I think we Christians try to complicate everything. Looking for evil at every turn. We have grown afraid to have fun , for fear that it may lead to evil in someway. This does not just go along with Christmas, but in almost every holiday. You can't even carve a pumpkin on Halloween without some one accusing you of worshiping the devil. Is this really how we want to live? Fearing that Christmas tress and pumpkins will send us and our children to hell?

 

 

That is pretty much life in modern america. You cant have fun any more without it offending someone. Isnt PC fun?

 

The pro-Santa crowd is the ones getting offended.  Those of us who don't believe in lying to kids aren't offended at all.  We are just giving an opinion, and getting attacked for holding that opinon.  I made it clear that individual parents have the right to make their own decisions with regard to Santa Claus. 

[OakWood]

I've never seen such rivalry between the pro-Santa and the anti-Santa crowd since feuds between the pre-Tribbers and post-Tribbers,.