Here comes Santa Claus ..... NOT.

I grew up in a 100 percent Jewish neighborhood. Never even heard of Santa Clause until we got a television. Hey, who's that? He brings presents? I'm in. Reindeer? Bells? I was hooked. I mean HOOKED.

Nothing to do with religion. It was a seasonal thing. My parents were amused by my ardor. Went along. My grandmother lent me a giant stocking to hang up. I worried about the absense of a fireplace. How's he gonna get in? My parents assured me that there were means available for people without fireplaces. Told me not to worry. I worried. (I've always been a worrier.)

My first Christmas. Left out the cookies and milk. Tried to stay awake to listen for the sleigh. Fell asleep. Woke up to find presents for me in the living room. YESSS.

I believed because I wanted to. I chose to believe. Haven't entirely given up on the idea.

St. Nicholas comes here traditionally on December 6.
I think, from the age of about 5, 6 every child knows that he is no real person - but when he comes to a kindergarten, scholl or family and talks to the children directly ...

We got our presents from St. Nicholas brought at night, in shoes.
And I think, my sister and I quite early discovered that aunt(s), grandma, parents were doing it.

At christmas, 'Christ Child' brings the presents.
On Christmas Eve, one room was closed from noon onwards. At some time in the evening, a bell ring and an adult announced that 'Christ Child' had visited us.
I was suspeceous that it was the same as with St. Nicholas. When I was 5 (nearly 6, my sister three years younger), I heard my father taking the presents down from the 'hiding place'.
That convinced me - not me sister.

I remember that the other year, my first year at school, no-one believed me when I wanted to get attraction with this story ...

Sweet, Roberta!

That's about where sozlet is. I've talked before about her tolerance for storyland, stuff that she knows isn't true per se but she finds enjoyable. So she "believes" in Santa Claus but several things she's said indicate to me that she knows he isn't real but enjoys the whole thing.

She absolutely loves the holiday season -- starting with Thanksgiving, going through Hannukah and Christmas -- and really not for the materialistic aspects. She doesn't even know what she wants for Christmas this year -- she said playground, I said not gonna happen, she said OK, and she can't come up with anything else. ("What do you think I should want for Christmas, Mama?") She just loves the caroling, and the lights, and the decorations, and the baking, and just all the fun stuff around it. E.G. bah-humbugged a bit last night and she was utterly shocked and appalled that anyone could have anything against the season.

I'm 48 and still believed, until I read this thread.

Thanks, you lot.

I really don't remember but I pretended to believe for longer than I actually did because of my little brother. I didn't want to spoil it for him. Kids need something completely ridiculous and fanciful in their lives and something totally unbelievable to believe in. I don't agree with using the "if you're bad Santa won't bring you anything" tactic.

No one I know was ever messed up from believing in Santa so I intend on carrying on the little white lie of St Nick until Adriana gets wise. I sitll sign some of my gifts to other people from Santa. It's part of the Christmas spirit.

I have come to believe that Santa can be one of the cruelest farces to ever be played on poor kids. If they aren't getting the same stuff as some kids, does it mean they aren't "good"? And how can we NOT be teaching just exactly that message to them?

Yeah, I agree that it's a bad idea to tie it to being "good." (We don't, either.) Santa is just one of the people she gets a present from, usually the most coveted present. (Last year, a Webkinz -- the year before that, ice skates. Nothing too big.)

We had central heating--as i later learned, the first house in town that had that. We had a large hot air register which sat between the living room and the dining room, directly above the coal-fired furnace. We had no chimney (my grandfather had a sheet steel smoke stack which vented the furnace at the side of the house, to reduce the fire hazard). Even if i had been inclined to believe in those fairy tales, i had a brother, five years older, whose delight it was to puncture balloons and steal candy from babies. I vaguely remember him deriding the Santa story to my sister. There is also a photo of me at about age three sitting in "Santa's" lap (department store?), and it's obvious from my expression that i was skeptical ("Who is this stinky old man, and why am i sitting here?").

I guess i may have believed at one time, but i don't recall it. Anyway, my birthday is in early November, and every year, my paternal grandparents would arrive for that occasion (that made me feel important, as you can imagine), at which time we were questioned as to what gifts we wanted. So there was little chance that we wouldn't know where our gifts came from. We were always excited about the gifts which arrived in the mail from New York, because those grandparents were wealthy, and we got really cool stuff from them, plus lots of cash.

Our "Christmas" spirit centered around the cooking and baking my grandmother did. Hundreds and hundreds of truly gourmet cookies and candy (from soft candy to "hard crack") which we didn't see the rest of the year. From the beginning of December, there would be oranges, apples, tangerines and exotic fruits (our paternal grandparents subscribed to the "fruit of the month" club on our behalf) and bowls of walnuts, pecans, hazel nuts--and all of it we were free to eat when and as we pleased--another highly unusual circumstance. Beginning days before Christmas, my grandmother started baking and cooking--pumpkin pies, sweet potato pies, pecan pies, mince pies, apple pies and blueberry pies (we grew our own apples, and picked blueberries in the woods), strawberry-rhubarb pies (we also grew those), "angel food" and chocolate cakes with frosting made from scratch (no canned frosting in those days). For the Christmas dinner, there would be a turkey, two or three chickens (we kept chickens for the eggs and meat), an entire ham (the real thing, not the water packed stuff you buy in cans these days), venison if it were available--plus the potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread dressing, home canned beans and peas and sweet corn, home baked bread, home baked sweet rolls--the whole nine yards.

Our big Christmas tradition was gustatory, and the freely-indulged gluttony began usually on December 23rd (no school December 24th in those days), and ran until the end of the weekend succeeding Christmas. Santa was little considered in the midst of such plenty, even excess.

What you described is our Thanksgiving, almost to a T, except ours takes place in the woods (Deer Camp) with a large fire pit that we use to cook over. The only thing that gets cooked at home is usually the deserts, other than that...its all smoked, roasted, grilled...and from scratch. (Ears of corn roasted, Smoked Deer Hams& Turkey & Chickens) I can make some of the worlds best Candied Sweet Potatoes over an open fire...lol

Thank you all for your responses.

Our family is still pretty new and all of our extended family lives far away so we haven't really forged any traditions yet. I'm hoping to get moving in that direction. This is really only the second year that we haven't been compelled to share him at the holidays.

I've thought a lot, all day today, about what Snood posted. I grew up poor. Really poor. But I never remember being sad at Christmas. I don't remember being sad or mad or jealous or thinking I'd been "bad" because we got so little. At the time getting anything extra seemed like a fortune.

Of course, we didn't have a TV so maybe we just didn't have anything to compare it to.

I know that times have changed

Thinking.......

The big gift for Mo always comes from me and Mr. B because it almost always has strings attached that Santa wouldn't be here to enforce. (You can get the guitar but you have to take lessons, you can get the bike but you have to wear protective gear every time you're on it, that sort of thing.)

Around here Santa just brings a few little things. Goofy things mostly along with a few little wished for toys.

Mo's already doubting Santa thanks to his school chums so we've talked a lot about the beauty of the idea of Santa and how nice it is to believe in that idea. He's holding on to his belief but he's keeping quiet about it!

Boom, I think the spirit of Santa, and the joy he can bring to children lives in most of us.

More important is to enjoy the special moments that the holidays bring out in our children. There are only so many "precious years". You Boomerangers will make your own traditions out of caring and love...

Happy Holidays,
and Merry Christmas to Mo...

RH

I guess I'm for family happiness with or without Santa. My good memories have more to do with everyone being together, music on, food on the table, a few good presents, going to the neighbors, and so on. Set's childhood christmases sound just wonderful to me.

I can be put off by too many gifts.. dated a fellow for a while whose family had gifts stacked near to the ceiling, no kidding. Clearly that made ithem happy though...

Hey, cool. That's what we do too.

I can't even remember when I stopped believing, but I loved the entire thing. Waiting to listen and watch the news to see where Santa was. Getting all excited. Finding the biggest socks or pantyhose we could.

All I know is by the time I stopped believing, it didn't really matter anymore. Our house was filled with stories (dad) and so it just wasn't that big a deal to move from santa-as-real-person to santa-as-what-he-means.

So once a kid was old enough that he caught on that Santa wasn't a person, he was let in as an 'elf' to help and watch over the littler kids. It was cool. It still is.

We always put up extra stockings, those were for people who might stop by ...or...if someone was caught in a snowstorm. Simply: someone.
I still do that. Carrying on that tradition in my own place now.

Santa represented the anon giver...that's what it is all about. Someone giving and the person getting not knowing who it is from! Or figuring it out, but the idea being...someone thought of you without thought for themselves.