Comments on: Santa Can Wait

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:51:53 +0000

Ha!

We, too, had to rescue Santa and his beard from my guy. Luckily we snapped the photo right before the assault : )

And here is a freebie tip for parents looking for babysitters. If your babysitters’ resume/experience lists being an elf to Santa, snap them up! Our best babysitter was an elf to Santa – she was the greatest!

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:21:23 +0000

The pix we have of our kids with Santa are all from their very early infancy. They won’t go near Santa or even consider it. We do have one from Macy’s in SF that has our entire family in it, with my husband and I holding our two boys (we had only two at the time), flanking Santa.

We’ve never pushed the Santa thing, but they picked up on it, TH when he was about four (?) and Dubya at about the same age. And here we are, ages 6 and 7, and they are both deeply skeptical of the whole concept. I’ve never been comfortable with it as an outright lie and have evasively always referred to Santa as the “giving spirit of Christmas.”

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:27:12 +0000

@Niksmom,

second what Christine said about traditions—it’s so easy to turn them into rituals and to forget the spirit of it all. and it is a cliché, but our Christmases with Charlie have always and ever reinforced in us, what the holiday really is for.

By: Alli

Alli — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:49:52 +0000

Alec loves the whole idea of christmas and santa but the one thing that has him really confused was the christmas cards he got from class mates that say “happy new year” he walks around with them shakes his head and says.. mum that just doesn’t make sense.

As for santa photos, we have a few but Alec looks a little wary in them, Riley our nt on the other hand can’t walk by santa without feeling the need to just go and tell santa sumpfink where as Alec likes to observe from a distance

By: FXSmom

FXSmom — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:27:16 +0000

yep same here too. Matt actually did it one time when he was 18 months old. He grabbed a fistful of beard and another fistful of moustache and screamed bloody murder. We rescued poor Santa from super babys grip and decided Santa was a little overrated…lol

By: Linda

Linda — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:21:27 +0000

Santas now have gotten a clue: children are invited to stand next to Santa as an option to the lap. I’ve seen it done with the more enlightened fathers, er Santas, and it is an elegant solution.

“Some people believe that a man called Santa Claus delivers all the presents. We do not believe that. We believe that Christmas is a time of magic.” Simple, honest and directly spoken. Next time we can talk about the birds and the bees!

By: Niksmom

Niksmom — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:32:01 +0000

I’ll be curious to see what Nik does this weekend when we go ride the “Santa Clause Express” train as we did lst year. He has no concept of Christmas or Santa but I don’t think he has any phobia, either.

Oliver’s mom, Christine, said something in a post that has stuck with me and been my guide this year: “…traditions are there to support us, not the other way around.”

That has made a really big difference in letting go of thinking I have to make Christmas a certain way for Nik.

By: janny226

janny226 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:19:57 +0000

DuckyBoy doesn’t do the lap thing with anyone very often (except Grandma). Last year HE was into it so we got a photo, but otherwise, I think it’s overrated. No one did that when I was growing up so I think it’s just another instance of holiday-tradition-creep anyway… ya see somebody else do it and think everybody has to.

By happenstance we got a nice candid this year of DB standing in front of Santa at Grandma’s church fair, earnestly talking with him. (He was a very good Santa– real beard and all.) My heart breaks at the sincere expression on both their faces. I’m soo afraid he’s going to be p*ssed-off when he finds out (he’s 6) that I’m already trying to compose my wording.

By: Melanie, Bobby's mom

Melanie, Bobby's mom — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:50:00 +0000

We don’t push Santa Claus as a concept or event either for the same reasons as all the other posters, and this year (age 5) is the first year Bobby has linked the tree and neighborhood decorations to the phrase “Merry Christmas.” He recognizes the character of Santa Claus, and likes the long white beard, but doesn’t know he is to expect presents. It’s kinda nice to not have to deal with a case of the “gimmes” at the store! He knows presents go with birthday parties, though, so we’re leaning more toward teaching “Happy Birthday Baby Jesus” than Santa Claus at this time of year. Of course, that’s still a v-e-r-y basic concept, too.

By: Regan

Regan — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:14:56 +0000

We still talk about Santa and his reindeer, and that he has something to do with Christmas, watch our “Father Christmas” video, go to the mall and take in “Santa’s workshop”, the kids lined up and those who are sitting on his lap. Eleanor can say who Santa is and that he rides the sleigh, brings toys, etc., but she has not indicated any interest in telling Santa her “wish” or sitting on his lap…so that’s okay, and at this point she is kind of long in the tooth for doing that whole thing anyway.

The big annual Christmas season rituals in our house are advent calendars (playmobil, daily “surprise” drawers and chocolate) and decorating the tree and house, which Eleanor enjoys. I believe that those things are more significant to her than the fella in red.

Have a nice trip.