Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
Sad that any parent can be that mean to a four year old
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[Misc] Santa
- Thread starter Frutos
- Start date
Would it be wrong to take pleasure in seeing an elderly parent beginning to believe in and enjoy the idea again due to alzheimers?
Whoosh….
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
I agree with not lying to your children because you want them to trust you.
As a Christian when my son questioned Santa, I explained that Santa Claus is a translation of Saint Nicholas, a bishop, who was very kind to the poor.
I never called the character Father Christmas for that reason. My daughter was three years younger, so we left it until she was older.
So, you can be truthful and enjoy the fun at the same time.
As a Christian when my son questioned Santa, I explained that Santa Claus is a translation of Saint Nicholas, a bishop, who was very kind to the poor.
I never called the character Father Christmas for that reason. My daughter was three years younger, so we left it until she was older.
So, you can be truthful and enjoy the fun at the same time.
No. Alzheimer’s is shit and so any joy that can be brought to someone that has it is, I’d see it as completely fine tbh.
el punal
Well-known member
Um - not in the 1990s. Trollies were used for commercial rounds which would be mainly shops and offices. For residential rounds it would be your delivery pouch (sack!) over your shoulder. The increase in the number of packets for delivery over the last number of years has necessitated the use of trollies to cope with the volume increase.
There, I hope that explains it.
Worried Man Blues
Well-known member
Not Santa on strike as well!! Don't tell the kids
Bansko Seagull
Bansko Seagull
I organised Breakfast and Tea with Santa events this weekend. It was interesting to watch the children‘s responses as they approached and spoke with Santa. Some of the youngest were too frightened to come up and receive their gift. A couple of 10 year old girls looked a bit as if they knew this was all a charade but they had better go along with it just in case. Prior to the event we had suggested that a child ticket was up to age 8 but clearly some parents have managed to string it out a bit longer. A particular 7 year old boy wearing a Wimbledon FC shirt was very impressed wit’s Santa‘s knowledge of football. (Thanks @Lenny Rider )
Falmer Flutter ©
Well-known member
Well, considering Santa is real I'm not sure what I've supposed to have told my two boys (15 and 12).
Our eleven-year-old tells us that she still believes in Father Christmas, but we are not sure we believe her.
She certainly knows there is no such thing as a tooth fairy, but this never stopped her expecting to find a pound coin under her pillow after losing a tooth.
She certainly knows there is no such thing as a tooth fairy, but this never stopped her expecting to find a pound coin under her pillow after losing a tooth.
Very interesting. It wouldn't surprise me that most kids, presented with a Santa in the way you describe, would buy into it, even if they had seen their dad dressed as Santa, and done all that "how could he possibly visit all those houses so quickly? And we don't have a chimney!" business. Confirmation bias can be a wonderful thing - which is why we have evolved such a capacity.
The necessary level of proof changes as we become older and more cynical, of course. That said, if someone could knock up a 3D translucent hologram of an angel, that could conduct a decent level conversation with me, I'd be happy to reconsider my long-held prejudices (supported by a fair bit of evidence, to be fair) about the existence of god.
But at age eleven.....I still remember Mr Stone writing 'Untied Diaries' on a blackboard, and every single one of us, when asked, read it as 'United Dairies' (the nationalised milk marketing body in the 1960s). Apart from one person, Dianne Abbey, who read it as Untied Dairies (half right). The whole class laughed at her embarrassment. Till it was pointed out that she was the only one of us to attempt to use some reason in the face of mob orthodoxy.
Back to the OP post, for pointlessly stealing a little magic from a child, I think I'd put that parent on ignore.
SK1NT
Well-known member
The whole Santa thing was the biggest moment i was looking forward to when i had children. My parents did really well keeping the truth from me. I didn't need to sit down and have a chat, you just eventually know at about 10ish. Although deep down when i initially knew he didn't exist i still wanted to believe, or force myself to believe as xmas eve and the idea of Santa was and still is my favourite time of the year. I would get a snes, or master system, bike, game boy for xmas but i would always prefer xmas eve for the xmas magic.
That parent the OP mentions is just being a twat, and i doubt her child/children will thank them for it when they are older. They really are ruining what i think is the most special, magical and purest part of childhood.
I have a close friend who, lets just say is a bit rough around the edges who keeps telling me shouldn't you tell your boy (who is 6) that Father Christmas isn't real. He says your boy will look like a mug at school. This pisses me off just because he had it spoilt for him at a young age. As a parent my goal is to keep this belief going as long as possible.
That parent the OP mentions is just being a twat, and i doubt her child/children will thank them for it when they are older. They really are ruining what i think is the most special, magical and purest part of childhood.
I have a close friend who, lets just say is a bit rough around the edges who keeps telling me shouldn't you tell your boy (who is 6) that Father Christmas isn't real. He says your boy will look like a mug at school. This pisses me off just because he had it spoilt for him at a young age. As a parent my goal is to keep this belief going as long as possible.
- Jul 10, 2003
- 27,766
The last time my kids (now 28 and 26) asked was probably about 10-15 years ago and I told them that if they didn't believe they wouldn't get any presents, same as my Mum and Dad told me last time I asked (probably also about 10-15 years ago) 
They still seem to get presents so I guess they still believe, but they don't put biscuits, milk and carrots by the fireplace on Xmas eve
Probably on account of the fact they don't live here anymore and we bricked up the fireplace.
They still seem to get presents so I guess they still believe, but they don't put biscuits, milk and carrots by the fireplace on Xmas eve
Probably on account of the fact they don't live here anymore and we bricked up the fireplace.
Last edited:
- Aug 7, 2003
- 8,085
Father Christmas would visit our house every year a few days before Christmas Day until at the age of about 9, I noticed that he wore a pair of hush puppies exactly the same as a pair my Dad had.
My daughter is 6 and my lad just turned 9. I thought he’d be approaching the point where he’d be starting to raise his suspicions, particularly given his school mates will no doubt have older siblings who have given the game away, however he’s still very much into the whole thing.
To that end, for about the 7th year running my wife and I have to go through the nightly escapade of Elf of the shelf. It’s a ball by ache, I’m not going to lie, but they both absolutely love getting up on a morning to discover what their elves have been up to during the night.
We’ll keep it going for as long as possible. It scares me sometimes how quickly they grow up.
To that end, for about the 7th year running my wife and I have to go through the nightly escapade of Elf of the shelf. It’s a ball by ache, I’m not going to lie, but they both absolutely love getting up on a morning to discover what their elves have been up to during the night.
We’ll keep it going for as long as possible. It scares me sometimes how quickly they grow up.
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
My middle nephew was terrified of Santa. He wouldn't go near any Santa at parties or in the stores. He had to have his presents delivered to the tree rather than having a strange man enter his bedroom in the night.
He is now a policeman.
Exactly the same. I'm not sold on the Elf thing personally. The kids love it but it drags out the timescale for awkward questions about Christmas to over a month, which must massively increase the chances of them working out it's not real. Before the Elf you only had to get through a few days of the lie and then forget about it for another year.
Basically, a cheap looking, plastic toy elf appears in the house mysteriously at the beginning of December. After this, the elf (or elves in our case) go on to get up to a whole host of mischievous antics through the night, remaining frozen and caught red handed when the kids wake to find them in the morning.
It’s good fun for them but trying to keep up the originality after many years of doing it is a bit of a chore, as does having to find creative new lies to keep the whole thing believable (as above).
Insel affe
HellBilly
The first time I saw an Elf on the shelf was in Detroit at my father in laws house, I asked what the heck it that !
I was informed it sits on the shelf all year watching the children, and reports back to Santa on how good they have been....
Rather a good manipulative way of attempting to keep your children towing the line, my wife informed me as a child her and her sister paid little attention to Elf on a shelf will tell santa when they were fighting or whatever, but around November they took more notice of the threats.
Our daughter learnt about Santas fake identity when we went to see him at a Castle in Sussex somewhere when she was around 4 and we saw him having a fag around the back entrance to the main room, he pulled his beard down under his chin, while he was taking drags....
She was more shocked when she found the collection of her teeth in a metal mint box one day, she confronted us asking why we had them as the tooth fairy took them, quick as a flash I told her we bought them off the fairy just as she was leaving, because mum wanted to make a neckless out of them, and wear it on her wedding day.