Santa or Mom/Dad??

[mudnuri]

DD's are now 6 and 7...and both still believe in santa (YEAH!)...however, they know that our Disney trip in April will be a late xmas gift to the family.

DD's and I went Ski Shopping today- both girls got boots/bindings/poles/helmets....the only thing that came home with us today was the helmets, as the boots/bindings/poles must be tuned, and safety checked etc...

They wont get them until xmas- along with a new bag to store the boots/helmet, and also goggles. Since they had to know about these gifts, for sizing....These will be from Mom & Dad....the only problem is we've never done this...everything was from Santa in years past...

How do you all do it?

I thought of getting the DD's disney stuff from santa, and possibly the park hoppers, since I'm still undecided on if we are doing the visa package or not...

When should I "expect" them to not believe in Santa? I'm so afraid that my older neices/nephews- range in age from 7-14 will ruin it for my DDs..

Brandy

 

[powellrj]

Ok, I know this is going to sound strange, but this is how we handle this situation. Mom and Dad give Santa X amount of $$ to use for your childs christmas. Some years mom and dad have more $$ so you get more and some years thats why you get less. Santa and the elves make and shop for gifts, but parents need to give money to buy the supplies and then santa and the reindeer deliever the gifts. This story came about after my kids questioned why we have to give to toys for tot and the salvation army when santa gives all the kids gifts. It has served us well, because they now understand why some kids really get a lot and others we need to help shop for.

 

[pogo123]

I just went through it this year. I thought by 11 my dd would have figured it out, but nope. I wanted to keep some of the magic, so I told her that yes, there is a Santa, but with all the new kids being born every year, there is no way he could possibly keep up. So, when a child turns 5, then the parents take over. She seemed satisfied with this explanation, then awhile later it sunk in, wait a minute, YOU bought me this that and the other thing?!? (She knows we are on a strict budget). How? I said THAT is why we have a budget, so we can splurge for the fun stuff. Of course it took about 3 months for it to register about the tooth fairy and the easter bunny

 

[believe]

DD (5) was watching Mickey Christmas yesterday. One character was saying there wasn't a Santa. She said he was lying....right Mom? I asked her what she thought. Then explained to her that not everyone believed in Santa. In our house Santa is Jesus' helper, that's why there are so many. DH and I are very much Jesus' helper. We have also told her that some individuals don't have a Santa that can afford what other helpers can afford. I don't think it will be long....
Not all gifts in our house are from Santa....some are from Mom and Dad.

 

[nativetxn]

Santa always brought Travis gifts, they were never wrapped. Mom and Dad wanted to give Travis gifts, too, though. We always wrapped our gifts to him. It still works that way.

 

[Talking Hands]

We never went with Santa as we consider him to be secular and our celebration of Christmas is religious in nature. Gifts don't really come on Christmas for us. Some come Dec 6 for St Nicolas and others come for 3 Kings Day representing the gifts given to the baby Jesus by the Magi.

In fact Christmas Eve I will be working at church interpreting the Christmas Eve Service in which the choir is presenting a Christmas musical. Already working on it. Love one song. "the Cradle That Rocked the World"

 

[Robinrs]

My son still believes in Santa and I'm glad he does. It was so magical for me growing up and I know it is for him. He also knows it's the celebration of Jesus' birth which is what makes the day extra special.

Like kath, we don't wrap the Santa gifts. The others have tags with the people who gave them to him on them so he knows who to thank.

 

[zurgswife]

We believe in Santa...at least one still does and I think there are possibly 2 kids....Santa is bring stuff to WDW for our Christmas stay and there are a few larger gifts that Santa will leave at the house because they were to difficult to lug to disney....for Santa of course...not me....
We were supposed to cut back this year....but I think this Christmas will be the biggest yet....whew....

 

[padams]

Most of the gifts come from Santa, but mom and dad give presents too. Last year, I had a few presents in the back of my minivan and I thought that one DS might have noticed them so those presents were from mom and dad. DSs are 6 and 8 and still believe but my 6yo is a skeptic, and I am afraid he will figure it out and tell his older brother.

 

[sue Z]

What there is no santa

i don't remember how I found out that Santa was really my parents. Even to this day I sometimes still will get a package from santa except his name is now Mickey!!!

 

[torismom]

We do wrapped presents from mom and dad and unwrapped presents from Santa. We just decide when looking what will be from whom. Good Luck.

 

[gshoemate]

We do some from Santa and some from Mom and Dad. DH said he didn't want Santa to get all the credit

 

[disykat]

Santa gives my kids each one small present and fills their stockings. All the rest come from mom and dad and other family members. That's the way it was for me growing up too. Santa was a part of christmas we enjoyed, but not that big a deal.

I have a friend who puts everything under the tree from Santa - even gifts from grandparents, friends, etc.

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by gshoemate
We do some from Santa and some from Mom and Dad. DH said he didn't want Santa to get all the credit

I agree with your DH! I didn't want Santa getting all the credit for all my hard work! This contradicts how I was brought up tho. We never received gifts from Mom and Dad, only Santa. And, all gifts are wrapped, whether from M&D or from Santa. I use different paper, that's all.

 

[gypsy]

one year our kids were about that age, and still wanted to believe in Santa... i cut a small piece of red felt (but cut it so it looked torn) and luckily had and old white fur muff (or you could buy just a small 'chunck' of fake fur) that I cut a small piece from. i stuck it in the fireplace door, so that it looked like Santa had snagged his coat on the way back up the chimney. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THEIR FACES!
i know some people will think this is cruel to tease children like this. but i just couldn't help myself...

Merry Christmas

d

 

[gypsy]

i also told my children that their cousins whined a lot, so Santa didn't come see them... so their mom/dad had to take over - that's why they didn't 'believe'

d

 

[rae519]

My oldest children were raised on Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny.

When we adopted Michael, it was after Kayla passed and we decided that it was time to get rid of the lies/fairy tales. We talked about people being kind and generous to each other and the real reason for the Christmas season.

Easter Bunny? Nope, Christ rising from the dead.

Forget Tooth Fairy completely.

Now Michael is 8, he realizes that there are some people who believe in fairy tales, but he knows that it's the spirit of the season to gift others as the Magi gifted the Baby Jesus.

So it's not only a season for giving, but for the real reason.

Rae

 

[gypsy]

that's how we dealt with when they learned 'the truth'. as long as you believed in the spirit of Christmas, there is a Santa Claus (sC;SC)...
that the spirit of Christmas is as you described; love for others, giving to others, sharing with others, and of course the celebration of Christ.

and they still believe in Santa Claus (of course the don't believe he's a jolly ol' fella from the North Pole) -

Happy Holidays!
d

 

[mskani]

They have never believed in Santa Claus, but we tell them not to spoil it for other kids who do believe. Since the kids attend a Christian Elementary school, where the religious aspect of Christmas is taught, none of their friends believe in Santa either.

They do enjoy watching the Christmas stories with Santa in them. On Sunday all of us went to the movies to see Elf, which we all enjoyed!

 

[Dimplenose]

I handle it the same way my mum did. The kids hang their stockings (DH Walking socks) at the end of their beds. The presents in there come from Santa - probably only £10 worth. the rest of the pressies are under the tree and come from us or other family members and are labelled and are usually given out after church.

This did lead to an embarressing converstion at church on Christmas morning one year when DS aged 4 at the time was asked what santa had brought him and he replied with a very meagre list.

Libby