Santa

We have a teenager and a toddler in this house. The teen is into video games so he will cost more for Christmas. He has a summer birthday so tbh he does well twice a year and doesn’t get much outside of that.

Toddlers don’t need much. He will get toys aimed a development and books.

As the toddler gets older and develops own interests etc there will be more spent.

I absolutely do not believe in debt etc to pay for Christmas.

9 or 10, they might find out earlier, but just let them know not to let other children know. My mam told me 2 weeks before Christmas. Was disappointed but ultimately I remember it being the best Christmas. Also I think as the youngest my mam was growing tired and she wanted to go back to opening presents on Christmas Eve, which as how they did it growing up.

I know of one family that don't tell their children about him and always around 4 or 5 (school years) they are desperate to believe and try convincing everyone. They don't mind and just have a family Christmas were gifts are given by Mam and Dad rather than the man in red, not really difference to their Christmas at all. they were all told to tell no one out of respect to other families.

Always got a present from Mam and Dad at Christmas and it was more special to me, mainly because I didn't expect one from them.

Always remember other families going on about the Bunny Rabbit, just a tradition I never grew up with.

Unfortunately, we are all adults in the family now!

No Grandkids..... not that I want to be called Granda!!! (or Papa)

Santa was always a fun thing more for the adults myself and herself when they were young.

My own dad let the cat out of the bag while delivering presents at 2am one Christmas morning after an 18 hour shift in work for a few days. He was knackered and fell over something in the room waking us all up. Mother almost killed him, but sure we knew. The poor man was exhausted!

Like TaxAHcruel, its now about family. Christmas still has its magic. I love the time with family and friends. My own kids are scattered to the four corners of the earth. None will be home this Christmas, so we are heading back to Ireland to be with my family. Her family doesn't do Christmas (not close at all). There is NOTHING like a family Christmas in Ireland....Yeah the weather sucks, yeah the prices are crazy, BUT it's about spending quality time with everyone both of us love and don't see enough of.

Would I like to see my own kids at Christmas? Absolutely! I have a sneaking suspicion they may well arrive (at least two of them). There are too many little conversations going on in private. When I ask, it is pushed off as a silly excuse for information/money! (Bank of Dad is still alive and well).

Since my own Dad passed. IT has lost some of the magic, especially for the first 3 or 4 years. Now with Mam getting much older and health failing, it has more meaning than ever. My Siblings are Christmas NUTS. The house is decorated for my mother within an inch of its life. Moving and speaking Christmas things, lights everywhere. My nephews and nieces of that age, LOVE it. Have to admit I get a kick out of it too.

It's still lovely to see the looks on the faces of the kids from the neighbourhood when they come into the house. Friends gather on Christmas Eve, family all come to one spot, Mam is treated like a Queen, I just love it.

The one thing I cannot abide is the presents. While we spend a fortune on it, I personally hate getting anything at all. I have everything that I ever dreamed of in this life, I don't want more "stuff" especially the heated socks I got last year.. ;) Needless to say, Charity shops are happy to see us in January!

@[Deleted User] I really love your way of doing Christmas. We have 2 under 3 and from the start said we weren't going to do Santa. Of course the grandparents are horrified but feck them!

My own experience put me off peddling such a lie to my children. I was having doubts at 7/8ish and asked my mum if Santa was real. She doubled down on the lie so I believed her despite my suspicions because why would she lie to me?

The following year I knew it couldn't be true and said so to mum. Her response was don't tell your younger siblings. I was upset but it wasn't because of some creepy aul lad who breaks and enters to give kids he doesn't know gifts for no reason, it was because I'd been lied to by my parents and now I had to uphold the lie. And all because the parents enjoy the "innocence" of the kids believing. Funny thing was, my younger sister never let on she knew so I had to keep up the charade long past it being reasonable.

The arguement about it being "magic" is a bit weak to me. It's a very lazy way to outsource a sense of wonder in my opinion.

@Jack Daw I just dont see the worth in the whole Santa thing. Kids are excited about Christmas for lots of reasons. A man they never meet who fulfills their shopping list seems a sad thing to promote to children as magical.

For me, doing without Santa doesn't mean the kids will do without waking up to gifts under the tree. Mine are too young to even know Santa is a thing yet. I imagine Santa only becomes an entity in their minds from maybe 3/4 years and then by 7/8 they are smart enough to see the holes in the story. Why condescend to them that it's real when in all other aspects of their life we are encouraging them to ask questions and be curious about the world around them. And also that strange men bearing gifts are not their friends.

I think it's more about the parents thinking the belief is cute. The funny things they believe in are cute, but they already believe in plenty of magical things they've created in their own imaginations, why is it important for them to believe in a corporate invention?

And I disagree that parents lie to their kids all the time. Avoiding subjects that might be too mature for them isn't the same as reinforcing a belief in what is essentially a marketing gimmick.

Yeah I guess so and I do like the historic/traditional aspects of the Santa story. I really dislike the commercial aspect though and that's mostly what you see. Santa is slapped on everything from October on and the vast majority of it is to sell stuff. I also dislike how media have jumped on board with perpetuating the myth, the news reporting on Santa's progress and stuff. It just strikes me as poor taste to condescend to kids en mass like that.