Is Santa really good for kids?
 

Hey Everybody,

I was at another forum and the discussion of Santa came up. Do you think it helps children to believe in Santa? I am not so sure because I never believed in him despite several efforts on the part of my folks. If my kids want to believe in Santa, fine, but don't children have enough ugly realities to face without the introduction and eventual removal of Santa from their lives? What do you think?

Santa go away!
 

I say no on the Santa thing. I just feel it's what other people call "justifible lying" I mean our society goes to great lengths to prove to kids that he's real and then eventually kids find out he's not. what a disappointment.

If I have kids, I will not share "santa" with them. To me, X-mas is not about swapping gifts and all that, it's about celebration of the birth and life of the big J.C.:) and celebrating our lives and making the most of it. We should celebrate that every day and not "just on Xmas":cool:

Is there a Santa? Please!
 

Yes, there is a Santa Claus!!

I know I am not going to get any positive responses to this but yes I do tell my kids that there is a Santa!

Children today have too much "reality" at their hands. That's just how I see it. I remember when I found out that there was no Santa. I was debating with my Mom and Dad and asking them over and over about why certain "friends" and relatives showed up at midnight and we could hear them and so my Dad just told me flat out that there was no Santa. I was NOT disappointed. I felt good about the fact that I had figured it out!

Today, I still wish I was that kid that believed that you could try your very hardest to be good all the time and see your hearts desires at the foot of a tree on a special magical day that comes once a year! ;)

Sorors and Sisterfriends,

I agree with Soror NinjaPoodle, Jesus is the Reason for the Season, and I give gifts because He gave the greatest gift of all salvation. It has nothing to do with a big fat man in a red suit. My 9 year old niece knew from a very tender age the real meaning of Christmas and her mother, who is also a soror, always tells her the truth about a lot of things that parents tend to not tell their children until they get older.

If I ever have any children I will tell them the truth about Christmas. That's just my 22 cents!;)

Serioussigma22

Since it's that time f the year again...
 

I thought I'd bring this one back up. Your thoughts?

i may... i may not...
 

well, i may ride the santa thing out... although i never believed in santa... i KNEW it was BETTY who put all that phatness under the tree! (but christmas was off the chain nonetheless!)

however, i'ma have to draw the line somewhere... i mean, after santa, then you gotta play up the tooth fairy... then what's next? the birthday bunny?

This is gonna sound silly, but I've never taught my daughter that there was a Santa. But when she lost a tooth, we did put money under her pillow! She knows there's no tooth fairy, but she knows that when she lost teeth, she'd wake up and cha-ching! Also, whenever someone would ask "Did Santa bring you lots of toys for Christmas?" she would answer yes. I was so scared a few times, because I thought she was going to correct them and say "No! My mommie and daddy brought them!"

I feel ya, Sistahgreek BlueReign about children having too much reality at their hands. These days, it seems like they're growing up much too fast, and they don't have the simple joys and pleasures and carefree attitudes when I was growing up just a few short years ago! ;)

Santa Claus is A-okay in my book.

I want my kids to believe in Santa....I think it's important to believe in "magic" at a young age. It represents innocence and all that.

If a kid doesn't believe in Santa, that's cool -- but don't be obnoxious about debunking Santa or proselytizing to my kids on the school yard.

Disclaimer: I am referring to the kids I have not yet had. :)

That's exactly how I feel. Kids only have their innocence and youthful awe of things bigger than themselves for so long these days. But it would be irresponsible to let a 13 year old still believe that Santa exists. You don't want a naive adolescent who has to cope with Santa not being real and puberty at the same time. :eek:

Now, if your sole focus on Christmas is gifts and getting the kids to act right so they can be on Santa's "Nice" list rather than the "Naughty" lists, then there's a problem. Point Blank: That ain't right! It's a responsibility that children are taught what the Christmas season is really all about. Now, if we could pass that knowledge on throughout the year....

Folks,

I would rather keep "Christ" in Christmas and anyway all you have to do is rearrange the Santa and you get Satan! I give gifts because Christ gave the greatest gift of all! He redeemed humankind. All one has to do is accept, believe and confess because it's as easy as A,B, and C.

Serioussigma22:cool:

Serious Sigma rearranged is "A, orgies I'm sus."

Senuseret,

What?

Check out the dictionary - I standby my statement of re-arrange: to arrange again in a different way! (Webster's New World Dictionary copyright 2003)

S-A-N-T-A = S-A-T-A-N!

Why do folks take issue with the true meaning of Christmas?

Serioussigma22:cool:

That's my response and I'm sticking with it.

And Serious Sigma rearranged is A ORGIES IM SUS.

Why do folks take issue with anagrams?

In fact, I was hoping that your declaration of the super secret satanic consipracy of the word "Santa" was just a joke, since I thought we all knew that "Santa" means "Saint."

Now that's just disrepect!

It seems that society always wants to distort the true meaning of Christmas. Not xmas or some dumb fat man that brings presents.
I didn't rearrange your name so don't try to rearrange mine son.

Serioussigma


And your little breakdown is a stretch!

I hope the fat man in the red suit gives you what you really deserve.

In the future don't disrepect my greek chat name because I was just making my opinion known like everyone else about Satan or sorry Santa.

I apologize that you feel disrespected. I merely did the exact same thing to your screen name that you did to the name "Santa." Serious Sigma has a specific meaning as does the word "Santa." It means "Saint." It has absolutely no connection to the word Satan. I am quite sure your screen name has no connection to sus orgies.

SI,

Keep the subject about Santa and not about my greek chat name! That's real low and you can't even justify what you did or rather typed. Once again, the subject is about your holiday hero and not about the person commenting and giving an opinion. You might have been making a point but it was a poor one. You don't know me period to even joke around with me.

Serioussigma!

SisterGreek,
No offense but I thought is point was right on. You can re-arrange many words but that doesn't make the new word relevant to the initial word.

And Santa is actually based on St. Nicholas:

"The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in Patara, a village in what is now Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships."

SisterGreek,

That's your opinion about St. Nick, however, I'm not going to rearrange your GreekChat name to give my opinion, make a point or give an historical reference from history. It was after all my opinion and there are other ways to point it out without disrespecting my GreekChat name. Once again, there are numerous tells or stories about the man in the little red suit and I gave my spin on it. The real meaning of Christmas is about Christ and not Santa. I stated my opinion without being disrepectful to anyones Greekchat name and in the future SI needs to do the same.

It's really so amazing how folks like to make a comments without thinking about being rude or disrespect.

Serioussigma22

Nor did I rearrange your screen name. And it was not my opinion, but a historical reference. I am not a Christian so it is all the same to me.

I am sorry if I offended you. And I am sure that SI did not mean it as disrespect to you or your sorority. But then he has already tried to explain that.

I am cracking up in this thread. I like to play the rearrange game too.

If you rearrange God you get something very different. What does it mean? Does it mean something? No because letters in words aren't supposed to be rearranged.

-Rudey
--This is hilarious

Exactly!

Well, back to Santa...
 

I never really bought Santa as a kid. We didn't have a chimney :)
I always thought there were plenty of magical and great things in life without the whole north pole setup, but that's just me. I had lots of intrigue and imagination and things to believe in during my childhood without Santa, so I was just wondering if it was good to introduce him to kids and then just one day have to explain that it was a lie for all of those years.

Y'all have a Happy Holiday/Merry Christmas/Happy New Year/Happy Kwanzaa, :) Be careful where y'all point those anagrams :D

I hear ya. I always wondered about the chimney thing, too. But I also remember not being disappointed when I found out there was no Santa because the fun was still there. Same with my daughter. She was like I already figured it out--how else can you explain all those Santas downtown -LOL.

Like the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, Mother Goose, etc. it was just a fun part of being little.

Happy Solstice, Kwanzaa, and New Years to you, too

I don't plan to feed my kids the Santa version. First and foremost, I want them to know that Christmas isn't about getting tons of gifts from a big man that lives at the north pole. I want them to understand that its not about what you get, but what you give unto others (and what was given to us by our Father in heaven).

I'd hardly call this taking the "fun" out of Christmas (lol) or making kids grow up too soon. That's crazy! I mean, they are still getting toys afterall. Just because they won't get the "santa version" doesn't mean that I plan to give a four year old a subscription to the Wall Street Journal for Christmas.

This has me cracking up. :D

All I'm going to say is that if you're going to keep Christmas a religious holiday, then keep it a religious holiday. Remove ALL pagan symbols from your home. Christmas tree included.

It's really important that we understand the history of Christmas. Christmas is so intermixed with ancient pagan rituals because the early Christians found it difficult to convert pagans to Chritianity. So by leaving some of the old pagan traditions more pagans converted. Don't even get me started that December 25th is also a pagan day...it's the winter solstice.

Now, Santa Claus's name is actually derived from the Dutch Sinter Klauss. Read about him here http://www.the-north-pole.com/history/. Sinter Klauss is the Duth name for St. Nicholas. So before we all start making anograms again, please learn the history.

ETA: The jolly fat man in a red suit was an image created by Coca-Cola.

I don't think Santa's a bad thing at all; my kids, whenever I have kids, will get the whole Santa story and have the same experience I had.

I think it's important to keep in mind where Christmas came from, but I don't think that a belief in Santa takes away from that.

Collin
(or Nollci, if an anagram of my name makes me less reputable)

When I was a kid, I didn't give a damn about Santa, I was just glad that I got toys. :D

My father was very against this Santa thing too, but somehow my mother talked him into keeping a lid on it. His side of the family actually told me there was no Santa, but I didn't believe them...until one of my classmates convinced me.

It will depend on my standing with religion (which is like a rollercoaster now) if I will tell my kids about santa.

Wow!

It's amazing that when the young man made it personal folks ran to his assistance. Sorhor TRSimons thanks for bringing the subject back to Santa. That's great that many of you love the symbolism of the jolly guy in the red suit but I prefer not to celebrate my holiday or rather Holy day that way.

Yes, I learned about Saint Nick when I lived in Europe (Germany, France, Spain, and England - a very proud Air Force Brat!) and even in World Civics 101 and 102 at the good old University of Delaware, but thanks for the reinforced history lesson folks. I believe that this thread is stated as follows: Is Santa really good for Kids? I say "No" and I believe that the thread was directed towards Santa and not my personal greek chat name. I would never personally attack anyone's greek chat name or the person because it shows that you lack basic home training. It's good to have dissenters and not conformity all the time (that's Sociology 120). However, don't personally attack the person for not agreeing with you. Please read Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. disclosure before you present your opinion. I really could careless if you believe the way that I believe because you're not rejecting me. Just keep it about the message and not the poster or rather responder of the thread.

And by the Way! Merry CHRISTmas!

Serioussigma22:cool:

Agree 100%! People look at me like I am crazy when I say I don't do a tree or other things at Christmas. This year Christmas day is going to be a day of service, meditation and reflection for me. That's it. You guys who gave the information about St. Nicholas are right, but the problem comes in when we add to the story. The story of the real life St. Nicholas stands on it's own, but people had to add to it. Now, instead of doing things in the spirit of/in memory of a person that is long gone, we make up a character that lives in the North Pole and flies through the night. How does that help anything?

Kids are excited about their birthdays (I know I was!). I wondered what I was going to get, who was going to come to my party,etc. Heck, even now I REFUSE to work on my birthday! LOL I don't think kids need something made up to appreciate the wonder of Christmas.

To say that God make himself a little lower that the angels, wrapped himself in skin and came to earth as a baby for ME is more wonderful that any flying reindeer with red noses! For GOD who has all power in his hands to suspend that power and become totally dependant on another so he could identify with me more is more awesome than a jolly ol' elf.

This is a beautiful post.

And this is what I feel. If you want to celebrate Christmas as a holy day, celebrate as a holy day.

But denying one pagan/non-religious symbol but keeping all the others seems a little hypocritical to me.

Anyway, back to the original question.

No, I don't believe Santa is bad for kids. I believed in Santa when I was small. I don't think anyone told me he didn't exist, I think I just grew out of him. Little clues here and there made me realize at a young age that he wasn't real. It wasn't so much believing in him as it was the idea of him. It makes kids happy...so if you celebrate it the non-religious way as I do (since I don't believe in organized religion), then who cares, it doesn't harm the child.

Now, if you have a teenager still believing in him then you might have problems, but there's proably much more going on that him or her still believing in Santa.

Thanks for your comment on my post.

Question for you...I know you said you don't believe in organized religion, but do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth and died for our sins? If not, I wonder why you celebrate Christmas in the non-religious way as you said. If people want to celebrate the Winter Solstice or have a Yule log or what every pagen ritual (including decorating a tree, which is discussed in the Bible, BTW) I don't try to tell them they can't, but I personnally find it hypocrytical to say you are "celebrating" Christmas, but want to take the religious/Christian aspects out of it.

BTW, I can't take credit for most of the post, I "stole" it from a sermon my Pastor preached 2 Sundays ago! :D

You have a good point there.

I don't really believe that Jesus is our saviour. I also don't celebrate christmas in the religious sense, and I don't celebrate the pagan winter solstice either. I suppose I celebrate the halmark holiday that it has become because I always have. It's really only out of tradition that I do this. In fact, I would be more than thrilled if my family wanted to stop altogether. Unfortunately they don't want to and I am obliged to spend this time of the year with them.

I don't go to church. I don't sing carols...nor do I sing Christmas related songs (perhaps I should put quotations marks around Christmas?) I put a tree up because the family wants it. Honestly I "celebrate" it out of tradition. It's nothing more than another holiday to me.

But I see your point.

Ditto. As a Humanist I celebrate the season as a time of good joy, since it seems to bring that to so many people. Nothing more, nothing less.

Also, btw, my reference to Happy Solstice in an earlier post had nothing to do with paganism but rather the definition of winter solstice when the sun in at a point to define the onset of winter--usually around Dec. 22. Some people celebrate it as the birth of a new season of cleansing. So I hope no offense was taken by anyone.

*ahhhh, intelligent, diversity of thought, discussions--the beauty of internet message boards such as this one*

No offense was taken by me ladygreek. Can you tell me what you me by a "Humanist"? What beliefs/practices actually go with this designation?

In a nutshell, Humanist believe in the intrinsic good of the human race and that one should live right and treat everyone with love for the sake of the race versus the promise of reward (Heaven) or threat of punishment (Hell.) Most Humanists are agnostic but others believe in a Deity. I fall into the latter and prefer to call Him God. But we do not believe in the Trinity.

There is a book: African-American Humanism: an anthology written by Norm R. Allen Jr. that you might find of interest.

Thanks ladygreek. Just to make sure I understand. You believe in a higher being, but after this life that's kinda it? There is no afterlife, per se. Is that right? What role does the deity play in humanity from a humanist standpoint?

Mind you most Humanist do not believe in a deity. Those of us who do believe Him to be the Creator. As for the afterlife, yeah this is your heaven or hell right here.

OK, back to Santa.
 

A few years ago my children were questioning the Santa thing and I was reluctant to tell them the truth. Now that they know the truth what a load off my pocketbook! Cause now they know that there is a limit to what they will ask for -- it's Momma's money not free gifts from a fat bearded man in a red suit!

I am even so now tempted to do away with all gift-giving at Christmas from here on because it's so WRONG!! I felt this way on Thanksgiving because I overate and then watched one commercial after another after another after another about getting out to shop at 6 a.m. on Black Friday. Some stores even offered a wake up call. I am so turned off from what we do from Nov to Dec every year. We eat way too much on Thanksgiving and there are people starving next door. And then we get up at the crack of dawn the next day to buy gifts for people we know who already have everything. This doesn't make much sense to me if we call ourselves celebrating the birth of Christ and do nothing to help a world full of hurting people.

Frederica Mathewes-Green gives her point of view here:

belief.net/story/57/story_5781_1.html


If that link doesn't work, try going to the blog I linked from:

www.southern-orthodoxy.blogspot.com/