My brother and his wife don't "do" Santa

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could see a serious reason for conflict if it was Jesus vs. Atheist where religious beliefs might be at odds.

But SANTA? The obese imaginary child molestor-type guy who is a symbol of the rampant overcommercialization of Christmas?

You care about perpetuating the false notion of SANTA?

Un.fackin.beliveable.

LOL. This.

This is such a non-issue. I can't believe it's been going on this long.

+1

It's really unbelievable that supporting the myth of Santa is more important to some people than spending time with family or the cousins having time to form a relationship with each other.

Fantasy shouldn't be more important than the reality of family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally wouldn't spend Christmas with them until your kids aged out of the Santa thing.

Same here. Are they local? Can you do xmas at your house in the morning and then go visit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could see a serious reason for conflict if it was Jesus vs. Atheist where religious beliefs might be at odds.

But SANTA? The obese imaginary child molestor-type guy who is a symbol of the rampant overcommercialization of Christmas?

You care about perpetuating the false notion of SANTA?

Un.fackin.beliveable.

LOL. This.

This is such a non-issue. I can't believe it's been going on this long.

+1

It's really unbelievable that supporting the myth of Santa is more important to some people than spending time with family or the cousins having time to form a relationship with each other.

Fantasy shouldn't be more important than the reality of family.

Why can't that family play along? The magic of Santa was what made so many wonderful memories for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could see a serious reason for conflict if it was Jesus vs. Atheist where religious beliefs might be at odds.

But SANTA? The obese imaginary child molestor-type guy who is a symbol of the rampant overcommercialization of Christmas?

You care about perpetuating the false notion of SANTA?

Un.fackin.beliveable.

LOL. This.

This is such a non-issue. I can't believe it's been going on this long.

+1

It's really unbelievable that supporting the myth of Santa is more important to some people than spending time with family or the cousins having time to form a relationship with each other.

Fantasy shouldn't be more important than the reality of family.

Why can't that family play along? The magic of Santa was what made so many wonderful memories for me.

I also think it's messed up that you don't care about something that's fun for kids, but have an issue with religion. I'm atheist, but I certainly wouldn't walk around saying "yeah, right like this is Jesus's birthday. They appropriated all the pagan holidays blah blah. Hope you have fun celebrating the "son of God"."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could see a serious reason for conflict if it was Jesus vs. Atheist where religious beliefs might be at odds.

But SANTA? The obese imaginary child molestor-type guy who is a symbol of the rampant overcommercialization of Christmas?

You care about perpetuating the false notion of SANTA?

Un.fackin.beliveable.

LOL. This.

This is such a non-issue. I can't believe it's been going on this long.

+1

It's really unbelievable that supporting the myth of Santa is more important to some people than spending time with family or the cousins having time to form a relationship with each other.

Fantasy shouldn't be more important than the reality of family.

Why can't that family play along? The magic of Santa was what made so many wonderful memories for me.

Why are your desires about how to raise your child more important than their desires about how to raise their child? Why can't you figure out something to tell your kids that glosses over the topic? Why are you willing to abandon family ties to support a fantasy?

[Anonymous]

Santa Claus was created by political cartoonist Thomas Nast either in the late 1800's or early 1900's if I recall correctly. Although Nast was primarily remembered as being a political cartoonist, and that's where they adjective "nasty" comes from, I believe he also did illustrations for advertisements, and Santa Claus was originally created for a department store advertisement or Sears catalog or something like that.

So, Santa Claus isn't even a "pagan legend." It's a freaking drawing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Santa Claus was created by political cartoonist Thomas Nast either in the late 1800's or early 1900's if I recall correctly. Although Nast was primarily remembered as being a political cartoonist, and that's where they adjective "nasty" comes from, I believe he also did illustrations for advertisements, and Santa Claus was originally created for a department store advertisement or Sears catalog or something like that.

So, Santa Claus isn't even a "pagan legend." It's a freaking drawing.

Not exactly. There was St Nicholas, Kris Kringle, and Father Christmas. http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/fatherchristmas.shtml#santa

[Anonymous]

All of the "magic" of Santa is easily created without actually lying To your kids. My kids don't literally believe there is a SAnta, but we pretend and leave cookies and put out reindeer food, etc. I tell them not to tell other kids that Santa isn't real because every family has there own traditions. Though it's very hard for me to understand why you would try to convince your kid that Santa is real if they are old enough to question the idea. You are taking advantage of a young kid's trust for your own enjoyment. Seems wrong.

[Anonymous]

Op, you created this problem by accepting the invitation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, you created this problem by accepting the invitation

OP created the problem by having unrealistic expectations and by refusing to admit that Santa is a fantasy that all kids grow out of.

[Anonymous]

If it makes you feel better OP, the Santa atheist kids don't necessarily disabuse the Santa believers of their faith in Santa. Sometimes it works the other way around. We told my kids that Santa isn't real and that it is a game that parents play to make their kids happy. They went off to preschool/elementary and joined the Great Santa Debate on the playground. For a couple of years, other kindergartners/first graders convinced my kids that Santa IS real. They came hold and told me all about it.

[Anonymous]

Couldn't you stay at a hotel where you'll put out cookies and have presents magically appear in the morning? Then pack them up, take them to your brother's and open them there?

If you gave your brother a heads up, couldn't he tell his children not to spoil the Santa thing for yours? We're Christian and celebrate Christmas but we don't "do" Santa either and I gave an honest answer when my child asked about Santa. I also told her that other kids believe and it's important that we not be the ones to spoil it for them. All my Jewish friends growing up got the same spiel and they bit their tongues. I don't see this as an insurmountable issue that warrants boycotting your brother's for the holiday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have a 4 year old DD, same as my DS. We don't go crazy with Santa gifts , don't talk about behavior to get presents, Santa's watching, etc., but we do play the game, go see Santa, put out cookies, read the stories, etc. They have said that Santa doesn't come to see them, or Santa isn't real, or something to that effect. We are spending Christmas with them and I don't want to ruin the Santa magic for our DS. They celebrate Christmas and the Jesus aspect of it (just like we do). I know at family gatherings, well-meaning adults will ask them what Santa brought them, and they are like glue when together because they're the same age.

Part of me is annoyed with my brother about this, I'll be honest. You don't have to buy out Toys R Us and obviously they can parent however they see fit, but I don't understand it. We grew up with Santa, didn't develop a complex over it, although we have both scaled down the amount of gifts involved in Christmas. I will politely (try to) keep my mouth shut about it.

I think this is worth a phone call to your brother and SIL to make sure you both get yourselves, and your respective kids, on the same page re Santa, so their little Larla doesn't blow it for your DD.

A few years back during a family gathering, my brother's littlest kid (in first grade) got in a huff about something and yelled out, "There is no Santa Claus! It's just your parents pretending!" and there was this stunned silence as both families and grandma stared at her. Then fortunately my eldest child, who was aware there was no Santa, said, "That's not exactly correct, Larla. Santa Claus' real name is St. Nicholas, a real person. He is the spirit of Christmas. Santa lives on in the spirit of Christmas."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Santa Claus was created by political cartoonist Thomas Nast either in the late 1800's or early 1900's if I recall correctly. Although Nast was primarily remembered as being a political cartoonist, and that's where they adjective "nasty" comes from, I believe he also did illustrations for advertisements, and Santa Claus was originally created for a department store advertisement or Sears catalog or something like that.

So, Santa Claus isn't even a "pagan legend." It's a freaking drawing.

OMG. Santa just became popularized in mainstream America in his current jolly red-suited form due to that. He is St. Nicholas who gave gold to poor parents of daughters so they'd have something for their dowry so to keep them from prostitution.

[Anonymous]

Santa does not come to families who don't believe. He lets the parents do the presents if they want to because he respects mommy and daddy. Kids young enough to believe in Santa generally aren't asking about poor kids, etc.

Your kid might not even notice, OP. He will likely be too busy ripping into gifts.