Talking about Santa

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We skipped the Naughty or Nice part.

+1. We weren't concerned about kids who aren't Christian, because that felt fairly easy to explain, but we were concerned about kids whose parents couldn't afford as many presents. They're obviously not "naughtier" because they didn't get much for Christmas. Eventually the "nice list" idea has trickled down from pop culture, but rather than seeing it as an actual reflection of behavior our kid just thinks you need to write your name on the list. She told me this weekend that it was my job to get her name on the list.

[Anonymous]

https://forward.com/culture/210861/dear-santa-stay-away-from-my-son/

People choose how to raise their kids. My daughter married a Jewish man and converted; they don’t do Christmas. It’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh JFC. Is this going to be another thread where Jewish folks complain about being put upon by the Christmas season? I don’t know any Christian kids who are taunting non-Christians about not getting gifts from Santa. Someone is inventing a problem where none exists. All of the Jewish and non-Christian families who I know are perfectly well adjusted and are not wringing their hands over Christmas.

Can we just give it a rest?

+1

Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Santa won’t bring you presents because you are “another religion?” Where did you get that from? Nobody ever has said Santa only brings gifts to Christian children! Santa brings gifts to ALL children.

If your child has the propensity to taunt other children for any reason, that’s on you. You should have given the child clear rules and modeled good behavior.

This is weird post, because Santa has never been portrayed in literature, movies, etc, as only bringing gifts to Christian kids.

When NORAD “tracks” Santa on Christmas Eve, Santa is shown visiting countries all over the world, bringing gifts to kids all over the world.

Santa is traditionally depicted as having a naughty and nice list. Yes, the world has rules. Just like the Elf On the Shelf, who “watches” children to make sure they are on their best behavior.

Let me guess: Santa and Elf on the Shelf are Christian bigots. They are tyrannical Christian overlords, spying on kids without consent and judging them harshly and withholding gifts for naughty behavior.

Do non-Christian kids not have rules and expectations about behavior?

This is a doozy of a post and I look forward to the comments.

Kids who aren't Christian don't get gifts from Santa, even if NORAD shows Santa bringing gifts everywhere. When your kid meets a Jewish or Muslim or Hindu kid and tries to talk to them about Santa, it's going to come up that no, not "ALL children" get gifts from Santa, and then you'll need to have a conversation with them about why not. Are you going to tell your kid that their friend was wrong, because NORAD says so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Jewish kid gets visited by Santa, as I was when I was growing up.

Interesting. Were/Are you interfaith? This is not common among the Jewish families I know, unless one of the parents is not Jewish.

[Anonymous]

We skipped the naughty and nice part. Ds knows there are various beliefs and stories about Santa (partly as a way to explain books, movies, etc). I've always hated the naughty /nice thing

[Anonymous]

We don’t have an elf. When my kids ask why, we tell them that Santa brings presents to all kids at our house no matter what. If they are naughty, it’s us, the parents who won’t give them gifts or will hold gifts until later. Santa only brings one gift and a few stocking items at our house. If my kids are going to be punished, I am going to own that decision and talk it through with them instead of blaming it on a mystical being. We also don’t teach our kids to be good “for Santa” but rather to be kind and respectful all the time because that’s what decent people do.

My kids know that their Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and other religion friends have celebrations other times of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We skipped the naughty and nice part. Ds knows there are various beliefs and stories about Santa (partly as a way to explain books, movies, etc). I've always hated the naughty /nice thing

I agree I don't like the naughty/nice thing, but it seems to filter down from media, even if we don't talk about it with our kids. It's in Christmas songs and old cartoons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Jewish kid gets visited by Santa, as I was when I was growing up.

Interesting. Were/Are you interfaith? This is not common among the Jewish families I know, unless one of the parents is not Jewish.

No. 100% Jewish. But my parents wanted me to experience that joy and Santa has nothing to do with Jesus.... (and yes I know that St. Nick was a real person, but still, little to do with the religion)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Santa won’t bring you presents because you are “another religion?” Where did you get that from? Nobody ever has said Santa only brings gifts to Christian children! Santa brings gifts to ALL children.

If your child has the propensity to taunt other children for any reason, that’s on you. You should have given the child clear rules and modeled good behavior.

This is weird post, because Santa has never been portrayed in literature, movies, etc, as only bringing gifts to Christian kids.

When NORAD “tracks” Santa on Christmas Eve, Santa is shown visiting countries all over the world, bringing gifts to kids all over the world.

Santa is traditionally depicted as having a naughty and nice list. Yes, the world has rules. Just like the Elf On the Shelf, who “watches” children to make sure they are on their best behavior.

Let me guess: Santa and Elf on the Shelf are Christian bigots. They are tyrannical Christian overlords, spying on kids without consent and judging them harshly and withholding gifts for naughty behavior.

Do non-Christian kids not have rules and expectations about behavior?

This is a doozy of a post and I look forward to the comments.

Kids who aren't Christian don't get gifts from Santa, even if NORAD shows Santa bringing gifts everywhere. When your kid meets a Jewish or Muslim or Hindu kid and tries to talk to them about Santa, it's going to come up that no, not "ALL children" get gifts from Santa, and then you'll need to have a conversation with them about why not. Are you going to tell your kid that their friend was wrong, because NORAD says so?

My kids have never gone around telling other kids they weren’t getting Christmas gifts because of their religion.

Why are Christian kids being attacked here, because alot of their families celebrate Christmas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Santa won’t bring you presents because you are “another religion?” Where did you get that from? Nobody ever has said Santa only brings gifts to Christian children! Santa brings gifts to ALL children.

If your child has the propensity to taunt other children for any reason, that’s on you. You should have given the child clear rules and modeled good behavior.

This is weird post, because Santa has never been portrayed in literature, movies, etc, as only bringing gifts to Christian kids.

When NORAD “tracks” Santa on Christmas Eve, Santa is shown visiting countries all over the world, bringing gifts to kids all over the world.

Santa is traditionally depicted as having a naughty and nice list. Yes, the world has rules. Just like the Elf On the Shelf, who “watches” children to make sure they are on their best behavior.

Let me guess: Santa and Elf on the Shelf are Christian bigots. They are tyrannical Christian overlords, spying on kids without consent and judging them harshly and withholding gifts for naughty behavior.

Do non-Christian kids not have rules and expectations about behavior?

This is a doozy of a post and I look forward to the comments.

I mean, Santa doesn't bring gifts to my Jewish children, because we don't give gifts for Christmas. Has nothing to do with tyranny, which OP didn't really bring up, either. But it is sort of hard to both (a) explain that no, you don't get these gifts from Santa and (b) keep up the pretense that other kids do. Personally, I don't feel that much of an obligation to make my kids believe in Santa, but like OP, I also don't want them going out and deliberately spoiling the surprise for their friends who do.

(Santa has never been portrayed as only bringing gifts to Christian kids because Christianity is generally just the default assumption in portrayals of Santa.)

OP, generally the way I answer questions about Santa is to say, "Gee, I don't really know that much about Santa, because we're Jewish, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Santa won’t bring you presents because you are “another religion?” Where did you get that from? Nobody ever has said Santa only brings gifts to Christian children! Santa brings gifts to ALL children.

If your child has the propensity to taunt other children for any reason, that’s on you. You should have given the child clear rules and modeled good behavior.

This is weird post, because Santa has never been portrayed in literature, movies, etc, as only bringing gifts to Christian kids.

When NORAD “tracks” Santa on Christmas Eve, Santa is shown visiting countries all over the world, bringing gifts to kids all over the world.

Santa is traditionally depicted as having a naughty and nice list. Yes, the world has rules. Just like the Elf On the Shelf, who “watches” children to make sure they are on their best behavior.

Let me guess: Santa and Elf on the Shelf are Christian bigots. They are tyrannical Christian overlords, spying on kids without consent and judging them harshly and withholding gifts for naughty behavior.

Do non-Christian kids not have rules and expectations about behavior?

This is a doozy of a post and I look forward to the comments.

I mean, Santa doesn't bring gifts to my Jewish children, because we don't give gifts for Christmas. Has nothing to do with tyranny, which OP didn't really bring up, either. But it is sort of hard to both (a) explain that no, you don't get these gifts from Santa and (b) keep up the pretense that other kids do. Personally, I don't feel that much of an obligation to make my kids believe in Santa, but like OP, I also don't want them going out and deliberately spoiling the surprise for their friends who do.

(Santa has never been portrayed as only bringing gifts to Christian kids because Christianity is generally just the default assumption in portrayals of Santa.)

OP, generally the way I answer questions about Santa is to say, "Gee, I don't really know that much about Santa, because we're Jewish, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

I clearly misread OP's post and they were worried about offending nonbelievers -- OP, no one who doesn't believe in Santa is going to care what the rules of Santa are, and kids won't be offended. Besides, my kids know they're naughty.

[Anonymous]

The whole naughty and nice thing doesn’t really hold up anymore and needs to be done away with. Feel free to just not use that. It’s manipulative and stresses kids out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole naughty and nice thing doesn’t really hold up anymore and needs to be done away with. Feel free to just not use that. It’s manipulative and stresses kids out

It’s really not your business, how parents do Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Santa won’t bring you presents because you are “another religion?” Where did you get that from? Nobody ever has said Santa only brings gifts to Christian children! Santa brings gifts to ALL children.

If your child has the propensity to taunt other children for any reason, that’s on you. You should have given the child clear rules and modeled good behavior.

This is weird post, because Santa has never been portrayed in literature, movies, etc, as only bringing gifts to Christian kids.

When NORAD “tracks” Santa on Christmas Eve, Santa is shown visiting countries all over the world, bringing gifts to kids all over the world.

Santa is traditionally depicted as having a naughty and nice list. Yes, the world has rules. Just like the Elf On the Shelf, who “watches” children to make sure they are on their best behavior.

Let me guess: Santa and Elf on the Shelf are Christian bigots. They are tyrannical Christian overlords, spying on kids without consent and judging them harshly and withholding gifts for naughty behavior.

Do non-Christian kids not have rules and expectations about behavior?

This is a doozy of a post and I look forward to the comments.

Kids who aren't Christian don't get gifts from Santa, even if NORAD shows Santa bringing gifts everywhere. When your kid meets a Jewish or Muslim or Hindu kid and tries to talk to them about Santa, it's going to come up that no, not "ALL children" get gifts from Santa, and then you'll need to have a conversation with them about why not. Are you going to tell your kid that their friend was wrong, because NORAD says so?

My kids have never gone around telling other kids they weren’t getting Christmas gifts because of their religion.

Why are Christian kids being attacked here, because alot of their families celebrate Christmas?

Who's attacking Christian kids?