ok, but our kids get a thrill out of the 'lie' so I think we will continue it,,,,,lol

Okay, but you risk raising a bunch of atheists. When you tell them about Jesus don't be surprised if they have some doubts. LOL

well, we tell them about jesus kind of young, the book is a bit more complex and detailed, and we include in their lives more than once a year,,,,

so I think we are ok on that front too,,,seems a bit more involved and real than a simplistic fantasy person/animal doing some simplistic chore like delivering a gift or hiding eggs,,,


of all the issues any of us has had with our family,, feeling lied to because of those holiday fairytales just has never been one,,,

Repeating a thing over and over can result in convincing them it is true. I did not say for sure they would grow up to be atheists, but children today are smarter than you might think. The risk is always there. I think it is better in the long run to be honest from the beginning.

whatever works for you and yours,,,,

Right. And if telling lies works for you and yours, go ahead and continue the tradition.

agreed

Just funnin with ya.

its all good,,,

This is what happens to those who don't believe in Santa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKrsAFWPnl4

Wow that was really violent.

That wasn't Santa, that was Satan.
(Almost the same name only rearrange the letters.)

In the movie we learn Santa is the son of Satan. He loses a bet with an angel, so for a 1,000 years he has to spread cheer and deliver gifts to children...but 1,000 years is over, and he's back to his old ways, and every child who sent him a letter is on his naughty list.

I don't think I would take my children to see that movie.

A VERY PROSPEROUS AND BLESSED NEW YEAR TO ALL !!!!

same to you morning song

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

like most, i believed in santa, the tooth fairy, easter bunny, et. al., simply because my parents said it was so. being taught that my elders were wise in all things and that i should pay attention i never thought to doubt santa. eventually i began to question the plausibilty of a fat man flying with raindeer and sleigh around the planet in just one night delivering presents to all the kids and couldn't figure out why the tooth fair would pay out all that money just for human teeth. discovering these fantasies to be, well, fantasies, i then began to question the racism i was taught living in the south which ultimately led to my questioning everything my parents, teachers and pastors had taught me including such concepts that the universe was six thousand years old, created in a matter of days and that jesus was the son of god who's mother was a virgin.

seems to me that if something is to be taught to be held as a core belief then the teacher would do well to steer far clear from fantasy during the teaching. at some point the student will begin to ask questions that cannot be answered in a manner that supports the fantasy. i see true intelligence as the ability to seek out one's own answers to the questions of life and existance. it takes little intelligence to simply buy into something that is told to you by another. that's simply rote learning and requires no reasoning. only when we question everything as to plausibility do we truely open our minds.

so, in answering the original question, yes, i did teach my kids about santa, the tooth fairy and the easter bunny. i expected that the time would come that they would uncover the fantasy and i used that as a lesson to not take everything that they are told as gospel. to open there minds to any possibilities that they might imagine and use their own reasoning on whatever topic including religion. i never taught them agnosticism but left it to them to reason things out on their own. one ultimately did become a devout christian and the other could care less about learning how everything came to be. but neither can question that i tried to force a belief upon them and that my teachings about santa was meant to be nothing more than a parent wishing for his children to enjoy their short time as a child.