Jill: I haven't seen the ad, but I'd be pissed, too. My seven year old has his first wiggly tooth right now, and I would be heartbroken if some stupid commercial stole a sweet childhood tradition like the tooth fairy from him. It seems like our society wants us to push our children toward maturity from a very young age (children's tv shows with relationship drama, provocative clothing for little girls, promoting the idea that believing in fantasy and make-believe is "babyish"). Why can't we just let our kids be kids?

Oh yes! I am with you on this one Jill,
My eldest 15 has been helping the last two Christmases but the
jig is up since the little one found Santa's wrapping paper in the garage last year.
It's ok since we kept it going till he was 10 and I could use the money from Santa
presents to get more from Me and Mom.

Why can't we just let our kids be kids?

Exactly!  I remember so very well when I learned the truth about my favorite fantasy characters.  I was so saddened and crushed.  You can never go back.  Why not let them live in that wonderful fantasy land as long as they can?

Well, we don't raise our kids with stories of the tooth fairy and santa claus...but it's not because of any strong conviction, but rather, the following.

As a Christian, I have time and time again met people in their young 20's who no longer believe in God. When I ask them why they stopped believing, the response is common: "Oh, I used to believe, but then I got to college and (x professor) pointed out to me 'your parents taught you about the easter bunny, and that wasn't real, they taught you about Santa, and that wasn't real...and you BELIEVE them when they talk to you about GOD?'"

Suffice it to say, I refuse to give jerks like that the leverage. But we have always taught our kids to let others enjoy the fantasy and not spoil it for them. And it's never been a problem.

Gid, if those people are in their 20s and can't discern the difference between their families creating fun childhood fantasy for them and their family teaching them about God, I can't help think they are a bit intellectually deficient.  I think you aren't giving your kids enough credit but you certainly know what is best for your family and I respect that.  I respect it all the much more since you are teaching them to respect other's right to enjoy the fantasy.

SSG, my then 5yr old caught me wrapping presents in the "Santa" wrap while daddy was supposed to be keeping him under control down stairs.  He didn't say anything that year but brought it up the next.  I covered by telling him that Santa and the elves are so busy making and wrapping presents that on years when a lot of kids have been on the "nice list" they need help getting everything wrapped so they send it to the mommies and daddies to have them do it.  He wasn't too convinced until, like I said, we tracked Santa and his sleigh on Christmas Eve at Norad's sight online.  Thank you Norad!!  10yrs is a good run though.  Well done.

Jill: Something that I feel was great that my parents did with me was this - when some pig-headed kid at school broke it to me (in second grade, I believe) that Santa was not real, they encouraged me to view Santa Claus as "the spirit of giving" and see it as just something fun to believe in. Even in high school my brother and I received gifts that were "from Santa". My seven year old is very savvy and I'm sure he'll figure it out before long, but I hope that he will want to continue "pretending" far after that, just for fun.

Texas, my parents did that with us also.  Especially with me since my sister was a couple of years younger and none of us wanted to spoil it for her.  I really did learn how great it feels to give.  My mom also referred to helping out with charities as "playing Santa".  One of my favorites was decorating and filling boxes of canned goods for needy families during the holidays while in Girl Scouts.

I've never seen the ad, but I can see why it would anger you. Having those fantasies about Santa and the Tooth fairy is a part of childhood.

My parents pretty much let me figure it out on my own, but they would let me stay up to see the Santa track on the news. But my family still says gifts are from Santa, to keep in the spirit of it all.

I do agree our society lets children grow up too quickly. I think it's harder to raise children these because of it. At stores, I see mini-skirts for toddlers and it floors me. I had an article (which kind of relates to this), that said how children are marketed to at such a young age. In turn, the companies want to start brand loyalty very young. To which I say, what child is going to say "well Brand X has such stitching on their clothes and their fashions are so up-to-date. But sometimes the clothes are really flimsy. I think I will buy from them again."

I remember the furor Jamie Lee Curtis caused when she was on the Rosie O'Donnell show and talking about how Santa wasn't real and that you shouldn't lie to kids about it.... when the show was on in the middle of the day, when any kid could have potentially seen it.

The way we've always explained it to our kids is like this:

"You know how fairy tales and fables sometimes have a lesson to them?" (of course, our kids will answer yes, smart kids that they are) "Well, the story of Santa Claus is a lesson in kindness and giving, that many parents teach their children".

And that, in a nutshell, is what it is.

Hmm.

I was there when my cousin discovered Santa wasn't real, and the cousin, who is usually well-behaved and just the nicest little guy, was so sad for about two weeks and again the next year at Christmas. Why would you feed your kids a bunch of lies? They're going to find out at school, anyway. I'd much prefer to tell my kids (if I ever have any) that Christmas is about sharing with other people, not about being good and getting presents (and commercialism...*sigh*).

I don't mean to be disrespectful to you, JillUser, or anyone else who feels that way, but my $0.02 says it's silly. I'd probably be one of those parents whose child ruined it for other children, so would have to figure out a way around that.

anglo,

it's easy to raise your kids without Santa and still have them be decent kids that don't spoil it for others...we've done quite well at it.

Gid, Fortunately for all the children in the world, I probably won't have any, so they won't have to worry about it.

Also my parents raised us without believing in any of that (believe me, we discovered that Santa wore whitey-tighties when he filled the stockings and that was traumatic enough!) and I don't recall that we ruined it for anyone else. I almost ruined it for the aforementioned cousin because I thought that 6 was a little old to be believing in that, but his mom smoothed it over, then two weeks when someone mentioend it again she just told him outright.

H and I were just discussing this concept and he thinks it would be funny to post a sign in the yard for each holiday stating " isn't real! Your parents are LYING to you!" (There's a reason I don't let him blog on JU.)

Reply #10 By: Gideon MacLeish - 9/4/2004 1:20:42 PM The way we've always explained it to our kids is like this: "You know how fairy tales and fables sometimes have a lesson to them?" (of course, our kids will answer yes, smart kids that they are) "Well, the story of Santa Claus is a lesson in kindness and giving, that many parents teach their children". And that, in a nutshell, is what it is.

absolutely!  You're a good parent Gid.  Everyone has different reasons for having traditions in their lives.  My husband and I have such fond memories of Santa that we just couldn't imagine our children not having the same. 

Anglo, you say you mean no disrespect but then say what I am doing with my family is silly.  That is disrespect and that is the crux of what I am getting at.  It is not for you or H or Comcast to decide whether or not my kids are entitled to the right to enjoy childhood fantasy.

I think Gid has it exactly right.  He believes it isn't right for his family but teaches that one should respect other's rights to live as they believe. 

Jill, what I meant is that I think it's silly. That's my opinion. You're entitled to your own and I was just trying to get mine across without upsetting you. Clearly I was not able to.