An Australian teacher was strongly criticised by both parents and the media several days ago for telling a class of young children that "... there is no such thing as Father Christmas, it is only your parents pretending ..." Apparently the children were very upset, and several began to cry.

While I admit that it probably wasn't the right thing for this teacher to do, I've always had a great dislike of "parent approved" warm-and-fluffy outright lies such as Father Christmas, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy.

Sure, the stock standard answer might be that this sort of stuff is part of the "magic" of childhood - but can't we make childhood special without this sort of deception ? Your opinion is invited ...

( Just in case you were wondering, no, I don't have any children, though there are lots of them in our clan )

if santa lands on my roof, i have a mossberg shotgun waiting, and some poisoned raindeer feed on the roof, along with some bear traps, heh heh!!! j/k

[img]graemlins/ninja.gif[/img]

Yeah, if A big fat dude was walking through my house I would be quite alarmed.

But Pangur.....

If there is no Santa, then you wouldn't get to spend *twice* as much on the kids for Christmas (which, of course would make the vendor's Christmas a little less bright)!

And if there's no tooth fairy, then that means.....*gasp* mom and dad throws those precious little toofies in the trash?!?!?

And if there's no Easter Bunny, then who lays all those eggs in the yard for the hunt? And who brings the baskets of goodies over night?

You have successfully blown away all my heroes. I shall go and pout now! :(

Despite the warning in the title, I couldn't stop myself from dropping in [img]smile.gif[/img]

YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN SANTA? Say it ain't so! :D

That teacher was waaaaaaay out of line. People like that don't enjoy Santa, so they think no one should. "My way is the only way." Those type people are the kind I choose not to be around.(not saying you're one of those, but the teacher fits the description)

We don't really go in for the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy at my house, but Santa rules. It's a part of my childhood I never want to give up. It's also a positive experience I want my kids to have.

It's obviously for small children, but I think Santa is a good thing. It's a memory of childhood I'll always cherish. Children believe in fantasy at a young age with or without parents helping the story along. Imaginary friends, fantasy stories, Mickey Mouse (I try to tell my little girl he's not real, but she believes he is anyway), etc. My little girl (3) believes there are monsters under her bed. All the truth in the world won't stop her from being frightened sometimes. Santa is a good guy, and I don't think children believing in him for awhile is hurtful. There's plenty of real life coming to them, so for awhile, it's nice just to believe. It was for me.

There are lots of truths that makes childhood special, like security, the love of family, and a full belly, just to name a few things. Still, there's nothing wrong with a little fantasy in the mind of a child. Fantasy is still appealing to adults who know better or none of us would be in this forum. ;)

<h1>SANTA DOSEN'T EXIST???</H1> [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img]

You dont know how much you've just ruined all my illusions of childhood.... :(

[img]tongue.gif[/img]

There are a "santa park" in Finland, (near Rovaniemi) where they claim that Santa lives.
So Santa must exist!
They wouldn't lie, right?
[img]smile.gif[/img] :rolleyes: [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Santa Claus DOES exist. He is not a person, he is a state of mind. I believe the correct response to a (or your) child's question about his existence is:
"If you're asking if there is a jolly old fat man who lives at the North Pole and travels around the world by sleigh on Christmas Eve, the answer is no. If you're asking if there is someone who loves you and will give you presents on Christmas if you're good, the answer is yes. There IS a Santa Claus, and I am him."

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by SixOfSpades:
Santa Claus DOES exist. He is not a person, he is a state of mind. I believe the correct response to a (or your) child's question about his existence is:
"If you're asking if there is a jolly old fat man who lives at the North Pole and travels around the world by sleigh on Christmas Eve, the answer is no. If you're asking if there is someone who loves you and will give you presents on Christmas if you're good, the answer is yes. There IS a Santa Claus, and I am him."<hr></blockquote>

Thats just going to be confusing to a little kid, not to mention telling them that Santa Clause doesn't exist, they already know that you love them (they'll probably figure out that they'll get presents nomatter how good or bad they have been) unless they are totally gullible and think you are really a big jolly fat man who rides in a sleigh and gives presents to everyone. O yes and Santa is an anagram of Satan [img]tongue.gif[/img] .

Oh no! If Santa exists then the continued existence of the Earth and the rest of the solar system is in danger!