How do you tell your kids the truth and when?

My almost 11 yo was asking some Q's this morning about the real santa and the pretend santa's in the shops and conflicting stories she's been told. I think it's time to explain, but I don't know how or what to say. What do others do/say?
 
tell them the truth, tell them the history behind santa and why we think it's a lovely traditon to carry on because it bring joy and good will into the world.
 
Ah, yours is a bit slow :p

Mine (at 9) has already worked out that I'm santa and the tooth fairy and my parents are the easter bunny but is willing to suspend disbelief for chocolate and money and presents. We basically just skirted the issue until she flat-out accused me of being santa and we couldn't dodge it anymore. Her friends were 'helpfully' telling her that parents are santa.

I used to just say the santas in shops were the hired help since the real once can't be in so many places at once. The fake beards really did it.
 
Mine ... is willing to suspend disbelief for chocolate and money and presents.

Lol, that reminds me of a story that my parents like to tell from time to time, from when I was about five years old or so.

Apparently when talking to Mum and Dad, coming up to Christmas, I said something like; "Well, I know how you promised never to buy me a Sega, but if Santa did, that'd prove that he's real cos I know that you wouldn't break a promise like that even if I'd like it." *cheeky childish grin*

Worked a treat :D



As for the OP; maybe ask her what she believes, first? Gives you something to start from, at the very least, and was how we dealt with my little sister a number of years back.
 
In our house if you say you don't believe he stops coming. Which is why I filled stockings for a 20, 15 and 13 Year old! 13 YO insists that I have to keep it up until she's 20 as that is what the eldest got...LOL
I really love Santa.:D
 
Mine never asked questions. They "said" they believed in Santa long after I knew that they didn't. I think they were scared that if we knew they didn't believe, then the Santa presents would stop. In saying this, however, we always had two lots of presents. Some from us and some from Santa. The stuff from Santa was usually stuff they wanted, but the cheaper stuff. The best presents came from us. :D
 
:D

I always told my kids............. those that don't believe don't receive.

In our house Santa bought the "good stuff" (mum and dad were "too poor" )

When my son was about 7~8 his mates were discussing whether or not "Santa" was real.... My son said............"Santa MUST be real..because if Mum & Dad gave me that much stuff, I would REALLY have to say Thank you!!!!" (I made my kids write thank you notes for presents to nana/grandad, aunts etc :) )

Today my kids are 25 & 23 and have great memories of Santa and fairies and "magic" in general. Their dad now has a 6yo and 2yo so NOW they see the magic of it all and "get it" :)
 
Neighbour of mine told me that he snuck out on Christmas Eve while everyoone was sitting in the lounge tlakign the night away and went to the garage and put onhis santa suit and hat and beard etc... He walked into the house surprising little Daniel who was overjoyed when everyone asked what are you doing here santa and santa replied "I've come to see Daniel".. So Daniel's looking santa up and down all happy and then he looks puzzled. dad sees hm looking at "santa's" feet and relaises he forgot to change his shoes, big red suit, white flyuffy trim and beard and DAD'S dirty sneak... aparently he didnt care after about 2 seconds and continued to nejoy a visit from santa

Askign the child what they think does sound like a good way to open disucssion
 
I can only say

"see life trhough your childrens eyes"

the truth will be dumped on them soon enough without the parents help.

But then there is hope for eternal dreamers like me ..............

Its called Walt Disney and any grown up to the age of 100 that relates understands what I mean.

ta
rolf
 
Hi all,

We had a large family (lots of rels) discussion quite a few years ago when my kids were young. A niece who was about 22 at the time was telling my kids that there was no such thing as santa. I calmly bought into the discussion that if there was no santa then there would not be any presents from santa.

The penny dropped in my nieces brain and she immediately changed her stance :rolleyes: . To this day as a 35 year old she still tells the uncles about santa.

bye
 
Ah, yours is a bit slow :p

Mine (at 9) has already worked out that I'm santa and the tooth fairy and my parents are the easter bunny but is willing to suspend disbelief for chocolate and money and presents. We basically just skirted the issue until she flat-out accused me of being santa and we couldn't dodge it anymore. Her friends were 'helpfully' telling her that parents are santa.

I used to just say the santas in shops were the hired help since the real once can't be in so many places at once. The fake beards really did it.

sHE has had her doubts for a couple of years. Saying thing like, "jenny at school say's there's no santa" my reply has been, "Well they wont get presents from santa then."

The issue at the moment is I've always told them the santa's in the shops aren't real, as it didn't take them long to realise there's a couple of different ones in the same shopping complex. A couple of years ago the kids got a playstation off santa. Their aunty and nanna gave them playstation games. So my daughter asked them how they knew santa was giving them a Playstation. Their aunty told them the santa in the shop told them. So she wants to know, if santa's in the shop are not real, how did they know and why did they tell her that.
My daughter swears that she heard the easter bunny last easter. I felt a little embarressed for her the first day back at school. We were giving her best friend a lift to school and she was telling her friend. Her friend obviously knows the truth and she had no response.
My daughter asked me recently if tooth fairy is real, and other fairies are just pretend? I replied, "I'm not sure". Ah!!! I can't lie anymore. She gets so excited by the events though!!

awww, that's nice. I like the last sentence about him representing giving etc.

Yer that is nice!
 
:D



In our house Santa bought the "good stuff" (mum and dad were "too poor" )

That's what we did too. My daughters yr1 teacher told the class not to ask santa for expensive stuff because it's really mum and dad's money. :eek: We had to convince them the teacher wasn't serious.
 
My daughter asked me recently if tooth fairy is real, and other fairies are just pretend? I replied, "I'm not sure". Ah!!! I can't lie anymore. She gets so excited by the events though!!
Tooth fairy has its own issues too - mine realised there's fairies and money in it (immediately buys biscuits with the money) and set to wiggling several of her teeth madly to get them to fall out.

Result - massively twisted one tooth around, pushed another across where it shouldn't be and made another one go black :eek:

Dentist had to pull them out (my partner fainted when The Child got this done, Child was absolutely fine). When teeth come out too early you can be waiting well over a year for new ones to fill the gap too. Hardly worth $2 :mad:

She's since been banned from messing with her teeth before they come loose on her own. Grrrr.
 
I keep telling the "kids" (aged 18,20,21,26) that the Easter Bunny killed Santa. Sometimes I say Santa killed the Easter Bunny.
They smile.
 
Hi all,

I calmly bought into the discussion that if there was no santa then there would not be any presents from santa.

bye

I also use the same approach... kids can work it out on their own...we don't need to break the news to them before they are ready.
ALthough we have the opposite appraoch to others in that Santa always brings the little gifts... so just 2 or 3 small gifts in the pillowslip.

Pen
 
In our house we gave the expensive gifts so that we were thanked appropriately and Santa brings the cheap stuff and lollies. They often wondered aloud why he brought other kids playstations! lol
 
Santa brings one special gift in gold paper and all the rest is from us. Santa is so real around here with a 5 and 3 year old, I'm loving it. The reindeer leave hoof prints and eat the reindeer food, there's specks of red and white fluff fallen from Santa's clothes near the fireplace. And so far he has brought EXACTLY the what the kids have whispered to him.

Is Santa real? Yes! Most certainly... in the hearts and minds of children all over the globe. They don't have to believe in Santa, just the idea of Santa.

By the way, anyone that read my thread about the dummy fairy and my son will be happy to know that it worked a treat. The Dummy fairy came one night and took the old dummies and left a great Spider man cuddly toy (all he wanted was a cuddle from the Dummy Fairy - which he got as well, he didn't even stir). My son has not even missed the dummy.
 
I was looking for a birth certificate today and found this letter from my oldest boy (now 21)....

"Dear tooth fairy

as christmas is said to bring good luck, it was bad luck for me because today I lost two teeth and lost both of them in the pool and with the manual creepy-crawly Mum vacumed them up.

So could I please have the total price for both of them which will add up to 4.00

Thank you

Signed"

There is no date, but on the reverse is something with a date of 1997 which would make him 8 when he wrote it.

Made me all gooey reading it.
 
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