Sarah has suggested this post, thanks, Sarah.
There is nothing as special as having children who believe in the magic of Father Christmas, in my opinion.
But as children get older , usually around the age of 8 or 9 upwards, they start to wonder if he is real.
I remember asking our parents if Mr. Claus was real and they reassured my sisters and I that, of course, he was real; between us we hatched up a plan that we would stay awake all night on Christmas eve so we would be able to see who brought our Santa sacks into our bedrooms: We tried everything to stop us from falling asleep from singing carols and other Christmas songs to talking to each other in different bedrooms, but on Christmas morning we all woke to find our sacks of presents at the end of our beds!
I don’t think that parents should tell children the truth about Santa as they will figure it out for themselves eventually and why would you want to burst the bubble on their youth and innocence? Children grow up so quickly, enjoy the magical years that you have with them while they still believe; Christmas has never been quite the same in our house since my boys discovered the truth about where their presents come from.
When I was working as a registered child minder my middle son had a part time job of being Santa in the local shopping centre; I invited another child minder and her children to my house, my son told us all that he was going out. About 10 minutes later Father Christmas arrived holding a gold coloured plate full of sweets for the children, Later when my son returned one of the children told him “You will never guess who came while you were out, Santa!” ( my friend and I tried not to laugh). It was a magical moment that I will always remember.
A child was so concerned this year that Santa wouldn’t be able to visit this December due to the Covid19 pandemic that he wrote to the Prime minister for confirmation
A little girl that I looked after came back to me after the Christmas break, she was very excited, telling us that she had heard jingle bells on Christmas eve night and that Father Christmas had left mud from his boots on their hallway carpet!
If you feel that you must come clean about Father Christmas to your children I would suggest telling them that Christmas is a time for helping others, for spending time with family members and giving to others, not just about what they want out of it.
If you have children of varying ages, as I did, there is the worry that the older ones may tell younger siblings the truth about Santa: I didn’t have that problem as in my playroom we had a plastic play house which the older children helped my youngest to decorate and turn into Santa’s grotto. Plus they held competitions to see who cold decorate the best bedroom at Christmas, which we would judge with the help of the child minded children.
I have written on Christmas with children here
Christmas crafts here
If you need tips for getting children to sleep on Christmas eve read here
Have you told your children the truth about Father Christmas or have any magical moments to share? then please do.
As always questions and comments are welcome.
Until next week.
Karen
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Thank you for writing this post Karen.
I think this will be the last year Megan believes, so l am making the most of it.
She has asked questions about it all , and l have tried to make it as magical as possible. It does not help when other children in the class don’t believe.
I nearly got caught out last year putting the socking at the end of her bed , l waited till she was fast a sleep but the floor creaked.
Great post, and l loved the reply from the Prime Minster to the little boy. I hope it put his mind at rest.
My absolute pleasure, Sarah, I appreciate the suggestions that you come up with, merry Christmas to both you and Megan
I love the good heart of your prime minister!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Michel
I will be 80 next year and I can still remember my lovely brother dressing up as Father Christmas .when he smiled I immediately spotted his false tooth so the secret was out straight away. Oh lovely memories.
Ha! Thanks for sharing your memories, Pearl
I’ve come up with some pretty elaborate explanations for how he does things over the years to keep mine believing. I think that the longer that they believe in magic the better. We spend way too much of our lives as adults and not nearly enough as children #anythinggoes
Totally agree with that, Jeremy, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences
This subject is very much on my mind as my eldest is now 10 and I am trying to decide on the best thing to do! Thanks for linking up with #dreamteamlinky
Hopefully this post has helped, Laura
My eldest 2 children kept the magic alive for us by getting involved with keeping it going for our youngest son, he was in Year 6 (10 nearly 11 years old) when he asked the question and it broke my heart to tell him the truth, but he was equally fascinated as to how we planned it all #PoCoLo
Oh, that’s lovely, thanks for sharing, Ellen
I’d never tell anyone else’s child there was no santa and as and when my children worked it out i asked them to keep the magic for others around them, too often though they saw it a sign of being a grown up/a big boy and wanted to say santa wasn’t real. I made sure the kids knew the stockings came from santa and the gifts from us anyway and my adult children aged 32-21 still got a stocking from santa every year.
Thanks for joining in with #PoCoLo Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
everything you have said makes perfect sense, thanks for sharing it, happy new year to you also
I agree that it is best to allow children to come to the realization themselves. Why destroy the magic that the world of reality will all to soon shatter.
Glad to hear that you agree with my thinking, that’s for taking the time to leave a comment
I think they do come to the realisation themselves, and that’s a good thing – but when they carry on ‘believing’ for the sake of siblings that’s super caring. Thanks for sharing with #PoCoLo
Yes, Stephani,glad you agree with my thinking
We didn’t make Santa a big thing. He brought stocking presents and not main presents, but we didn’t make that much fuss so when our kids started to ask if he was real or not, we were able to explain it and for them to understand. My parents made it a big deal and it was a huge thing and my mum would bribe us to behave with Santa and when I found out I was quite upset that he wasn’t real. My husband’s family didn’t do Santa at all, so we kind of compromised. I think it depends on your kids and what you tell them really. #pocolo
Great idea, thanks for sharing