I do not do Santa or anything that doesn't exists. Because I think that my child should know that his parents spend a lot of time getting nice things for him and not some weirdo nasty fat image of an old man. My mom was so good at it when I was a child I didn't give her any credit for the things she worked so hard to get me. I think its terrible.

I absolutely do Santa. And because it's just me and my Man Cub, I get Santa presents, too! Hooray! We both get a stocking full of little toys, the puppy has a little stocking and he got a chewy treat in there. Man Cub also gets one Santa present under the tree and because this year is the first he really knew what to do when we went to see Santa, and he really knew what he wanted, (he is four now), I was able to get him the Bumblebee Transformer he asked for. That was kind of special, for me as well. It brought me great joy, in fact. So we go to see Santa and have a photo done, this year we even had Breakfast with Santa & the Conservation Characters at Australia Zoo. We put out Man Cub's choice of snack for Santa and his reindeer. This year it was a glass of water, two carrots and a slice of Christmas cake. And when he goes to sleep, I get in and decorate his room in tinsel and leave the latest Myer Christmas bear at the end of his bed. Okay, so as you can tell - this is largely for me, as much as it is for him! Oh, I'm also sure to alter my handwriting when I label his presents and wrap any Santa presents in different paper to my presents for him, because that is where my mum failed. Ha ha.

My husband RIGHT from the start was telling our first (now almost 6!) that Santa wasn't real. Even as of last year, he wasn't real to her. I was a little annoyed that my husband was sort of crushing part of the "spirit" of the season for her...And then this year (she started school in the fall) she is all gung-ho on the Santa wagon. My 2 yr old is the same way (we hadn't even brought Santa up to her, but thanks to Dora, she is fully Santa-aware). They had NEVER sat on Santa's lap until a Christmas party hosted by my husband's unit a few weeks ago. The minute Santa walks into the room, my 2 yr old runs right up to him, and throws her arms around his legs. ...This is the same child that flinched when strangers walked past us in the grocery store! First, we are Christians...BUT we don't believe that Christmas is about Jesus or his birth. Just based on various historical aspects, I don't believe at all that Christ fruited out of the womb on December 25th. I think they were also using a totally different calendar system back then, anyway. I DO believe that religious "heads" decided to cover up the winter solstice (a pagan festival) by making it into something a little more reverent. I also feel the reason we don't know the precise time of Christ's birth, is because the truly important bit of his life, was his eventual death and resurrection. So, as a Christian...Christmas means PRESENTS, food, family, and traditions. Second, I don't ever recall being under the Santa umbrella as a child. I know my siblings were...but I went along to be a good big sister. As a parent, I didn't intend to lie to my child and be all, "oooh, Santa sees you picking your nose!"...but I also did not intend for my husband to blurt out, "Santa isn't real!" And especially as I see various charities, and try to explain to my oldest about helping others, and being mindful that not everyone has the same blessings, that also makes me cringe at the idea that poorer children are not benefitting from the Santa myth...since clearly they have no Santa to come down their chimney. My family was VERY poor when I was a child, and we were sponsored many years by various charities b/c otherwise there would literally have been NOTHING. ...So, for right now, the kids believe...I am actually a little sad now that my 5 yr old is a believer, b/c I feel like she came into the game a little late...and is getting into it, just as other kids her age are getting OUT of it. She'll be six in January, and I really wonder if I did her a disservice this year by going along with the Santa bit. She does believe in the tooth fairy...absolutely not anything I discussed with her, it must have come up at school or on TV or something. Oddly enough, my husband has NO problem lying about the tooth fairy, but is literally steamed over the Santa thing. ??

We believe in Santa. I wasn't going to do the whole Santa thing but then I had kids and Santa is so much fun! I love seeing their eyes light up when they see him at the mall. And our mall Santa could seriously be the real Santa because he is just the nicest guy ever!! My girls (6 & 3) were so into Santa this year. They loved making him his special cookies, and leaving out food for the reindeer. My youngest was totally obsesed with Rudolph and kept asking to see him when we tracked Santa using Norad yesterday night. It's fun, it's magical, and it's something special that they will remember forever. My eldest told us this morning that she heard Santa coming down the chimney last night. She did?! One day we'll tell them the truth about the real saint nicholas and the spirit of Christmas if we're pressed about it, but if I am 31 years old and still get gifts in my stocking from Santa, then my girls can believe as long as they want to.

I believe in Santa... OK, so here's the deal... Moanna is two and she believes in Santa. She knows a lot about Santa through grandparents, babysitters and other kids. We've still not fully decided how we're going to handle this whole Santa bit, but thankfully (I think) we don't have to make a firm decision about how to handle Santa this year. So far we've decided that Santa fills stockings and that is it. Everything else comes from Mommy and Daddy and everyone else. It really upsets me when children are so thankful and grateful for everything Santa has done, but do not give the same kind of gratitude to their family. Does this make sense? That being said, we've not really promoted Santa, but we've not downed her beliefs in Santa either. It's fun to go along with it. Our focus has been on charity, this spirit of giving to others and of course the birth of Jesus. This year we have done a lot to teach Moanna about charity. We took her to the store to buy presents for an Angel off the Salvation Army Angel Tree, and we packed food baskets for local families. She loved it. LOVED IT! We have also gone to a Living Nativity Scene and done some activities with our church. Let's talk about this Santa thing next year...

I remember from a really young age, knowing that my mom brought my presents... but I was encouraged to buy for my relatives (think Woolworth's), wrap my own gifts, we put up a tree together & listened to music forever... Then went to my grandmother's on X-mas day. And if I REALLY wanted something, "MOM can Santa get this for me this year?" I kinda hope my daughter does the same thing... It's not about being particularly religious for us. And I never hated my mother for lying to me - I don't think Sarah will either as long as we're honest when she comes to her own conclusions. (we're also doing the menorah) It's really about the spirit of the holiday, fun, and family - at least for us. Now tell it to my mother-in-law.

Really relevant for me right now, guys. I told my 6 yr old this year, which I am told makes me a terrible person, but Robbie had figured out most of the aspects of the Santa myth and made a few logical jumps. How does he get to everyone in one night to give them presents? Magic. How does he get in the house? Magic. How does he get all those cool toys? Magical elves make them. Enough for all the children in the world? Yes. "So if he's magic, I can get as many toys as I want, and it doesn't matter what it costs in the store, right?" Uhhhh.... Quick, devise something to say about overhead and fair labor practices and elf rights! Okay, so I could have said something about it depending on how "good" or "nice" he was, but I have always HATED that part of the Santa myth because if he's got a friend whose parents are a little better off financially, or make a bigger deal out of Christmas, he gets more gifts, regardless of how naughty or nice he's been. And if you promote any awareness of charity or helping the poor, and they recognize that not all children get presents, what does that mean? That Santa doesn't care about poor kids? That being poor is the equivalent of being naughty? Bad, bad homeless children. "Oh look, the cookies are almost done." I was sick of lying to cover up the gaping plot holes in this story, so I discussed it with the husband, and then I told my son the truth. And he was totally cool with it. He just wanted to know why we pretend. So I told him that it's fun and makes Christmas feel more magical. It's like a game. Do I still get presents? Yep. Do I get anymore if I believe in Santa? No. Same amount of presents; you just know where they come from now. You and daddy buy them? That's right. Can I still believe in Santa if I want? Sure. Honestly I think he feels way more special and important now. He knows that we stretch our budget to buy him the things he wants most every year. Plus he wants to keep pretending for his little sister. Now he gets to be part of the game of building the myth of Santa. We haven't broached the topic of the tooth fairy yet. I will cling to that one because it makes the whole, OMG-a-tooth-just-fell-out-of-my-head! thing a little less horrifying. And the Easter bunny is real. End of story.

You all are awesome. I love each and every episode. I wish this one had included a single voice of dissent, however. I have a toddler and I have yet to face this question head-on. We will definitely "not do Santa" nor the tooth fairy. As harmless as these "myths" seem, I just don't see how you can raise a child in a religion while perpetuating these myths. Let each parents decide. Believe me, I don't think anyone is a crappo parent because they are all-about-Santa or have their kid believe that a winged fairy creeps into their room at night to steal a tooth and leave money. I have two issues with it, though. The first is purely personal and the second is probably something that will make a few parents hate me. 1) How can Christmas be about the birth of Christ and Santa's sleigh ride across the world, at the same time? How? I don't think it works. So, if you don't bother with the first, then the second is not such a problem. 2) I do have issues (hello sister-in-law!) with parents who weave elaborate lies and set up ridiculous scenarios to perpetuate these myths. I also have an issue with parents who flat-out lie to their kids when the child says that they do not believe in these myths. If the kid figures it out, let them know the truth! Shoot me. Yeah. This does seem like total crap parenting to me but I realize that I am sometimes a shitty parent as well (Aren't we all?).