December Chit Chat - Page 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[LunaLady]

Ash, we just got a table top tree. A real one. They call the "Elf Trees" at Whole Foods.

We put it on the buffet hutch in our dining room. R isn't really very interested in it, but I think he would be interested in the ornaments if we had a tree on the floor!

[LunaLady]

There's another contest! Can I be super annoying and ask you all to vote for me???

Here it is: http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1369582/the-annual-mothering-handmade-gifts-ideas-photo-contest

I'm on the first page, post number 6. Making baby pants.

If any of you enter, let me know and I'll vote for you, too!!

[Abraisme]

Coralie has mostly ignored our Christmas tree and we have ornaments all the way down.  We do have a tub of plastic globe ornaments that shes free to play with, so maybe that got it out of her system?  She's also not that destructive in general, so who knows..  All of our ornaments are down low, so I'd let her pull them off if she wanted.

[Autumnshades]

Voted for you Christina :)  what a neat idea using old sweaters! :)

[LunaLady]

Originally Posted by Autumnshades 

Voted for you Christina  what a neat idea using old sweaters!

Thank you so much!

[LunaLady]

Oops, double post, sorry!

[Becky Wheeler]

What a little Houdini! How does he get up to those places! 

Originally Posted by seraf 

GGNJ, I'm glad y'all are well. I think it's awesome that the zoo was an emergency shelter.
Nicole, I'm sorry your sister got bad news in such a casual manner. I hope you are able to help her out with the knowledge end of it.
Not a lot going on with us. Soren started pulling himself to standing yesterday. Shay climbs on everything. Here he is sitting on the spider cage to look at the rabbit.

[seraf]

Becky, he is a climber. He just climbs, he's fairly tall, too.

GGNJ, there's a little board to prevent the bunny coming through/nibbling on the railings so the spider and bunny can't see one another.

[TalkToMeNow]

I'm sorry, Nicole. Keep us updated.

Ash, we put only non breakable ornaments on the bottom part of the tree. Jasper is free to take them down, carry them around, etc. I usually put them all back on when he goes to bed. Sometimes, he puts his toys on the tree to "help".

[Becky Wheeler]

Does anyone not do Santa in their house? I'm receiving alot of flack(from family) for not wanting to do it because "it'll take the magic away from Christmas" and that I'll "deprive them of having an imagination". Not trying to start a debate, I'm just venting. I don't want to do it because I believe in a roundabout way, it's lying. Michael has been asking lots of questions this year and I've actively had to lie to him to keep him believing. I don't like it and I didn't like how I felt when I found out. *sigh* Sorry. Vent over.

[seraf]

We don't do gifts from Santa. My older kids celebrate secular Christmas with my mom but we aren't Christian. We do a tree and gifts and stockings but we don't go overboard.

Telling them there is Santa is letting them believe in magic and a pretty harmless lie. Not telling them the Santa story does not rob them of magic. As new to the world as they are, there is magic everywhere. There is magic in the snowflakes and plants growing. There is magic in electricity and plumbing. There is magic in everything around them so they don't need a lie to see magic. If you are Christian, the story of Jesus is pretty magical, as well.

My older kids, when they started doubting the Easter bunny, I kept up the lie. It's fun. I smile like I'm joking when they call me on it. They think its funny that I tell them obvious lies, not hurtful.

[dashley111]

We do Santa, even though i was very torn as a new parent because i also felt it was a way of lying. This is the first year one of my kids has brought it up. My 9 year old just blatantly asked me and I told him the truth. Keeping it up is one thing, but out and out lying is another. With my daughter, when she asked if Santa was real I simply asked her what she thought. She said yes, she believed...and I told her that was all that mattered.

My 9 year old is very mature, very much the oldest child. So when I asked him how he felt when I told him the truth, he said he was disappointed but glad I was honest. When I asked him if he wished I would have never lied to him about it he said he would not have changed a thing. He did say it made Christmas more magical and exciting, and he never felt that I lied to him because I never did. I kept it up as long as he was logically able to believe, and no longer.

So, I have no regrets. I don't think Christmas is ruined if you don't play Santa, and I do think it can still be magical. Every kid is different. Perhaps you could do what we do with the tooth fairy- we openly "pretend". It's still fun.

If there are terrible spelling errors I'm sorry. I'm on my phone and I can't scroll up and see what spell check was up to.

[TalkToMeNow]

We do Santa. I worried about it when the girls were very little. Now, I feel silly that I worried! It is all so much fun. I do not lie per se, just don't ruin it for them. They want to believe anyway, so it's not too hard! I don't think they should feel lied to when they find out... They should feel grateful that their parents went to so much trouble to make Christmas magical for them!

My 10 yo no longer believes. This is her first year. I should ask her about how she feels. Dsd says she did not feel lied to.

[CDsMom1031]

We will be doing Santa. I don't remember how I felt when I learned the truth, so it obviously wasn't too traumatizing. I think it's just as much fun for parents as it is for kids. My Christmases have been super lame for the last 10+ years, and that's probably due in part to the fact that I knew where everything was coming from. There was no "mystery" anymore.

Conner's 4th molar popped through yesterday. Can we say HEATHEN? Uh, he was so mean. But then I'm like... How bad must he be feeling to be acting like this? =( But hopefully now that all of his molars and 8 front teeth are in, we can take a break from teething for a month or so, LOL.

[Jaimee]

This blog post pretty much says how we feel about Santa, much more eloquently than I would be able to type out here. It could give you some food for thought about the idea of Santa being a "lie" and the "truth" behind the idea of Santa.  I totally agree with the author's idea of what Santa truly is....   http://www.cozi.com/live-simply/truth-about-santa

[Autumnshades]

Eli is still at 4 teeth... his gums are SOOOOO swollen.  He has been acting nightmarish too ... :(  so much whining and crying that it is driving me out the walls.  The only time he is okay is when he is sleeping.  Oi ... feeling so bad for him.  I just want him to cut those darn teeth already...

We aren't doing Santa and we also don't do a tree (We are Christians, so we are celebrating Christ and His Birth) ... just a personal choice... 

[ZippyGirl]

For us, Santa, definitely.  We'll be baking cookies for him on Christmas Eve.  When I stopped believing in Santa, my parents said something along the lines of:  Who knows *for sure* if he is real or not, but at the very least he is symbolic of generosity, and now it is up to me to keep the spirit of that symbol alive for younger children and that I must never, ever tell a child that Santa is not real because his symbolic meaning is very real.  I remember when my parents said this, and my older brother was there nodding his head with such seriousness.  It was such a sweet moment in my childhood.    

My older brother is five years older that I am, and I remember one Christmas Eve when he promised to wake me up when Santa's sleigh landed on our roof.  And in the morning, he told tell me how happy I was to see Santa's sleigh fly by, and he described to me what I "saw".  Of course, it was a total lie, but I have never been more grateful that someone lied to me!  I was in total bliss with the thought that I saw Santa!

I love what Sara said...

[LunaLady]

I don't think we'll be doing Santa. And honestly I don't think we'll be doing Christmas at our house. My parents are very religious, so we will do Christmas at their house. But DH and I decided we'd start the tradition this year of celebrating Yule. Celebrating the season. Yule brings with it many of the traditions people associate with Chrismas (a tree, stockings, gifts, etc) but without the religious association. DH and I said we'd do surprise presents on Yule morning just like we had done for us on Christmas morning from 'Santa' so that the bit of excitement and fun is there without the mythical man. As a child I felt very lied to and deceived on the Santa front (and I was made to feel I still needed to believe until I was like 15 otherwise I wasn't being 'good'), so that's where I'm coming from.

And on that note, yesterday we made wreaths from branches in our yard! It was so much fun. A great new tradition. We decided that we didn't want to buy fake Christmas decorations that need to be stored, so we're just bringing Winter inside for our decorations. We did buy some LED candles, though. Next weekend we are going to make a Yule log centerpiece for our table. Last weekend we got a table top tree and made cinnamon decorations. Such fun!

[TalkToMeNow]

I think I may be a bit odd on the Christmas thing. I LOVE Christmas. I love decorating, presents, Santa, movies, music... Everything. But I am not at all religious. So I guess I celebrate secular Christmas?? I personally see no connection between trees, Santa, and Jesus. It makes zero sense to me. So it doesn't feel weird that I celebrate but am a nonbeliever. Hmm... However, to make it even stranger, I find the religious aspects of Christmas to be quite beautiful. I love the very old, traditional carols. I think the idea of candle light Christmas Eve services to be magical. But, we don't attend, obviously. I think it is such a huge part of our culture that it is difficult to not be a part of it, even if you aren't a Christian.

Also, I really feel that we are celebrating family and love. And it's such a nice way to make it through the winter drear.

[seraf]

Christina,wreath making is super fun. Your festivities sound like a lovely time.

Amanda, I'm right there with you on loving the season. I just don't tell my kids that Santa is going to bring them gifts.

2 years ago we asked Ari if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap and she said, "I don't even know what he looks like." We still tease her about it. I think I told my kids, "Some people believe ________." Which is also how I address religion. They're clear that they're not allowed to tell other people that Santa isn't real, so they play along with adults and kids alike. Amusingly, my partner is Jewish and did pictures with Santa and was devestated when a kid told her he was just a guy in a costume. My sister went to a religious school for kindy and a classmate told her that she would go to hell for believing in Santa (sweet kid). Lol, enough rambling. The one thin I never liked about the Santa myth is the idea that he is always watching you. I had a babysitter who used to always yell at us that Santa was watching us and it never sat right. I remember asking why they never mentioned that in the summer.