Children and Santa, tooth fairy, etc

[JohnClay]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa / tooth fairy / easter bunny and children?
Do you
1) Actively teach children about those things
2) Agree with children if they are talking about those things
3) Tell them they are made up if the child specifically asks
4) Actively tell children that those things are made up

To me it seems a bit immoral to lie about these things to children but I guess there is pressure from society to allow young children to believe these things.

 

[Tolworth John]

I never told my children about tany of them. If asked I explained why we gave presents at Christmas.
Teeth I distracted by telling them that they'd lost their teet by kissing boys/girls.
Didn't have the easter bunny, but again would talk about the reason for easter and eggs.

There are far to many other people who will talk to children about these things.

 

[Serving Zion]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa / tooth fairy / easter bunny and children?
Do you
1) Actively teach children about those things
2) Agree with children if they are talking about those things
3) Tell them they are made up if the child specifically asks
4) Actively tell children that those things are made up

To me it seems a bit immoral to lie about these things to children but I guess there is pressure from society to allow young children to believe these things.

I don't "kid around" with kids. It's mean, they don't deserve it, and they don't want it. It is something weird, and a little bit mean about grown-ups, because they think it's funny and cute to kid around like that. But the children are genuinely trusting them and asking sincerely for the truth .. why not?

"A truthful witness saves lives, but one who utters lies is treacherous" - Proverbs 14:25

 

[salt-n-light]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa / tooth fairy / easter bunny and children?
Do you
1) Actively teach children about those things
2) Agree with children if they are talking about those things
3) Tell them they are made up if the child specifically asks
4) Actively tell children that those things are made up

To me it seems a bit immoral to lie about these things to children but I guess there is pressure from society to allow young children to believe these things.

I would just tell them it is made up. But I wouldn't jump at every opportunity humanly possible to say that. They have to come to that conclusion personally.

If they ask me to indulge in it with them, I will shut it down. For me to say its made up, and then play along, that means that it doesn't matter. It does.

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa / tooth fairy / easter bunny and children?
Do you
1) Actively teach children about those things
2) Agree with children if they are talking about those things
3) Tell them they are made up if the child specifically asks
4) Actively tell children that those things are made up

To me it seems a bit immoral to lie about these things to children but I guess there is pressure from society to allow young children to believe these things.

I am very active in teaching against myths. Here is why:

When parents teach lies like santa claus, easter bunny and tooth fairy and also teach about God, the kids eventually learn the first three are a lie and then parental credibility is gone. So, when schools teach their lies that there is no God and that we evolved, then those same kids who have been lied to by their parents--for no legitimate reason except to maintain a myth--are quick to stop believing and searching for the one true God.

Furthermore, when we make Christmas and Resurrection all about the commercial holiday, it isn't really a celebration of God at all. When it becomes all about the gifts, decoration, and santa claus, how much devotion is actually shown to God within the time spent on the holiday that we claim to celebrate the birth of His Son?

Finally, why is it such a bad thing that the gift-giver acknowledges that they gave gifts rather than some mythological creature gave the gifts?

 

[Greg J.]

In this kind of context, you can't go wrong with "the truth is always best." It's only when someone is thinking of not telling the truth that the pros and cons start to come out. While the child may miss some of the excitement that other kids have, do you really want their excitement to come from something that doesn't exist? There is room for argument here (especially since I am not a child psychologist), since they will probably be exposed to fictional characters of one kind or another. However, the focus of excitement could instead be on the gift-giving or what the holiday is actually celebrating. Parents can turn a Santa-less Christmas or bunny-less Easter into an exciting time if they are willing to put a little time into it. Careful explanation can make it possible for them to associate with kids that believe in Santa, et al. When they are older they will recognize that Dad tells the truth about Santa and other stuff—including about God.

 

[Hawkins]

To me, all they need to know in the end is that the difference between myths and God is that the former lacks serious and valid accounts of witnessing.

 

[AvgJoe]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa / tooth fairy / easter bunny and children?
Do you
1) Actively teach children about those things
2) Agree with children if they are talking about those things
3) Tell them they are made up if the child specifically asks
4) Actively tell children that those things are made up

To me it seems a bit immoral to lie about these things to children but I guess there is pressure from society to allow young children to believe these things.

We started going to church when our son was 4 years old. By the time his 5th Christmas rolled around, we were so convicted about the lie of Santa, that we told him the truth about Santa and where his presents actually came from. That was 14 years ago and I wouldn't change that decision. The truth is always best, especially when small children are of concern.

 

[Sketcher]

I don't have children of my own. If I ever do, I have no plans to actively teach them about any of these as if they are true.

 

[Llleopard]

I found it hard to know what to do, because my own family didn't celebrate Easter or Christmas so I had nothing to imitate, but I knew I wanted them to have some kind of fun celebration with the real meaning rather than the nothing that I had. I decided to tell my kids that some families tell the Santa/Easter bunny stories, but in our house we make presents for each other. Then we wrote the labels like 'from Santa mom' or'Santa Kat' and had fun with it. They had 'mom the tooth fairy' too, which they found really funny. They've turned out okay and never offended anyone with it

 

[Llleopard]

Oh and we made our own traditions too, like going to the midnight Carol service, making treats to give away, advent wreaths, and reading the Christmas or Easter story together etc

 

[PloverWing]

We didn't tell our children the Santa Claus / Easter Bunny / Tooth Fairy stories, for the same reasons others have mentioned. I wanted always to be truthful with my children, because I wanted them to be able to trust my word.

They encountered Santa Claus anyway, of course, through the other adults around them -- Grandma, adults at church, and so on. "What is Santa Claus bringing you?" We decided on a twofold approach. We told the kids that some adults like to play the Santa Claus game, where they give presents secretly, and say the presents are from "Santa Claus" as a way of not telling who the presents are from. And we told the kids about St. Nicholas, who was kind and generous, and whose stories developed over time into the Santa Claus stories we hear now; the stories about the guy at the North Pole are fun fiction, like Harry Potter, but there was a real bishop a long time ago. One of our December decorations is a little statue of St. Nicholas, in his bishop's attire, that we put up on St. Nicholas' Day in early December.

Eventually, we did have to tell them that some parents told their kids that Santa Claus was real, and that out of kindness they shouldn't spoil the secret for others, and we explained why we hadn't taken that route in our family. They seemed to be glad that we had opted for straightforward truth-telling.

 

[AV1611VET]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa

#4

Santa is "Satan" spelled wrong.

There are some 25 (or more) similiarities between Santa and Jesus.

One example:

Santa: Ho! Ho! Ho!
Jesus: Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: -Zechariah 2:6a

 

[2PhiloVoid]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa / tooth fairy / easter bunny and children?
Do you
1) Actively teach children about those things
2) Agree with children if they are talking about those things
3) Tell them they are made up if the child specifically asks
4) Actively tell children that those things are made up

To me it seems a bit immoral to lie about these things to children but I guess there is pressure from society to allow young children to believe these things.

#4

However, at the same time, I've also told my child that "Santa," in connection with the historical figure of Saint Nicholas, is of a different mythological nature as a symbol within culture than is the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny.

 

[Uber Genius]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa / tooth fairy / easter bunny and children?
Do you
1) Actively teach children about those things
2) Agree with children if they are talking about those things
3) Tell them they are made up if the child specifically asks
4) Actively tell children that those things are made up

To me it seems a bit immoral to lie about these things to children but I guess there is pressure from society to allow young children to believe these things.

So when I used to make up stories and tell them to my children that was not lying. Part of raising children is to cultivate their imagination and creativity. Children love magical stories and pretend to be people or things they clearly aren’t. Creating a little magic in their lives is not lying!

When they grew up my kids went to see movies like Star Wars Be aused they loved the idea of putting themselves in another world.

But I also told them about George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Jesus when they were kids. They still believe in the historic figures and can easily separate those from Santa, the Easter bunny, and the tooth fairy, and Richard Dawkins’, “God Delusion.” (I.E. works of fiction)

 

[RoseCrystal]

For Christians:
How do you handle Santa / tooth fairy / easter bunny and children?
Do you
1) Actively teach children about those things
2) Agree with children if they are talking about those things
3) Tell them they are made up if the child specifically asks
4) Actively tell children that those things are made up

To me it seems a bit immoral to lie about these things to children but I guess there is pressure from society to allow young children to believe these things.

I totally lied to my child about santa and the easter bunny and the tooth fairy, until he went to school, then I told him it was just a story for little children, I didn't want him to find out at school and feel stupid. He wasn't upset when I told him, he laughed. I also lied to him about other things too, like I'd tell him fish was chicken so he'd eat it, anything orange was carrot.