The Glade 4.0

I don't have kids, but just curious about the opinions here. I interrogated my parents about it when I was 2-3 and they gave in. I was always astonished at the other kids who believed this nonsense.

If I had kids, I would tell them as soon as they could understand.

let 'em figure out on their own but if they ask you honestly, tell them. Most children seem to stop believing around 6 but pretend on the fear that the presents will stop.

So you don't believe in educating your children?

I encourage my daughter to figure things out on her own. I never GIVE her the answers until she tries to figure it own on her own.

That's dumb. People can't figure out things on their own easily, they need instruction and answers. If you hired employees, would you prefer they figure things out on their own?

A.S.A.P is what I answered, but that's not really the truth, because they've never been taught Santa existed to start with. I don't celebrate Christmas...or, ironically, any of its pagan wrappings like decorated trees, forced gift-giving, santa, etc. (Even when I celebrated the Sabbat of Yule I avoided this stuff.) We don't need a special occasion to buy gifts for our kids, and we've never told them Santa exists, so when they first asked about him, we explained the tradition. (They were a little disturbed that all the kids at school have parents willing to lie to them, so we told them their parents thought it was a nice thing to do and not to tell the other kids at school Santa isn't real.)

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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Fixed for you.

I was always disturbed by parents who lie to their kids. I had this friend who still believed when he was 7 or 8, and I couldn't convince him that Santa wasn't real. So I told him to sit by his fireplace until after midnight during Christmas Eve. He did this, and Santa didn't arrive obviously, so he was upset the next day.

My nieces are five and six, and I just told them about Sankt Nikolaus und Schwartz Peter.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

The answer is: When you think it's time too.

My kids are 7 and 5, and I see no reason to tell them yet. My brother's kids are roughly the same age and he told them from the start the truth about Santa. In all honesty, I believe that my kids have gotten far more enjoyment out of the holiday than his, just due to their continued belief in the fantastic elements of it.

It's just another one of those fairy tale like things that kids have when growing up, and they have fun with it. I think it encourages their imagination and helps keep a sense of wonder that so many kids are lacking today and that I feel is important.

If they ever ask, I'll answer honestly: Santa is an imaginary person, but the idea and way he makes us feel are real.

Also, it's awesome to play Santa anyways.

If you are disturbed by people telling their kids about Santa, you have other issues going on that need addressing.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

Not really. If you want your kids to be successful when they are older, they need to learn critical thinking skills early on. Leaving them in the dark about topics is the same as not caring about educating them.

No, it's not.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

Lex, are you seriously giving parenting advice?

I just wanted to point out that lauding critical thinking skills seems pretty antithetical to your earlier stance that information should be spoon-fed and "taught" from the start.

If you're telling your (hypothetical, I realize) children a bunch of information, where do they learn to think critically? After all, you're pushing an encyclopedia at them, not prompting them to observe and question their environment.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I agree. It's teaching them to unquestioningly accept the absurd -- which is a very important life skill for most people.

Seriously, though, I don't really see the harm in it, considering how most people in this part of the world do celebrate. I just don't like it. I don't think my kids are missing out by not having been told Santa exists or participating in this communal holiday.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

"Spoon-feeding" them interesting factual information will actually cause them to think about it and link different concepts together. Otherwise, they don't even have logical ideas to ponder. The whole basis of science is looking at facts and evidence and trying to understand. This is expedited by having a bunch of information. Also, telling your kids to read Wikipedia is a good idea.

Did your parents drop you on your head as a baby?

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

How is spoon-feeding them the truth teaching them thinking? It is another form of indoctrination. When they put the math together to figure out that one old dude couldn't possible visit every house on Earth (except the Jewish ones and third-world countries) and start to question it, THAT is critical thinking.

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I think it's sad that parents tell their kids the truth about Santa early, or don't celebrate "santa day". He's not a religious figure, it's just magical and fun.

Lex, a strong, healthy imagination is leaps and bounds more important than any few facts.

A lot of people who have serious trust issues with their parents that started with finding out Santa was a lie. When you are children, small, unimportant/insignificant things can snowball into massive issues later in life. Obviously not everyone reacts the same way, however.

As for the healthy imagination, absolutely, I agree. I just don't think we need to lie to them to help develop it.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I told my son the truth about Santa last year about a month before Christmas because he was starting to hear from other kids that Santa wasn't real and I wanted him to hear it from me. He was 7. He didn't seem upset or anything all he said was "Gee mom, you could have at least waited til after Christmas to tell me."

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

It seems that this sort of imagination is the same that led thousands of generations of people to idiotically dance around fires and sacrifice animals to make rain.

My son is 2 1/2 and he's PUMPED about Santa coming baby. Oh yeah!

I think it's great. Although I havent used the "you better be good or Santa wont come..." on him yet. That'd probably make me feel a bit guilty. I mean, I'd get over it, but still

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe