Santa Dilemmas!!!!
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Santa Dilemmas!!!!
| Fri, 11-16-2007 - 6:54pm |
OK. I know this is for 10- 14 -
but I have one 9 3/4.
I was trying to encourage my kids to GIVE toys - b/c our local FOSTER KID Assn has virtually NOTHING - on their toy shelves.
She asked me - SO, Foster Kids don't get gifts from Santa??
I said - well- very quickly - that I 'spected it was the foster PARENTS that could not give them things -
WHAT ELSE COULD I SAY??
She was all for gathering stuff to give to them- but you guys, having a little bit of a leap ahead -----WHAT should I say specifically to this one???

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9 3/4?
I'd be very surprised if they didn't already know the truth.
I think the "what do you think response" would open up the conversation.
From when Aly was a baby, I've always said that parents have to pay Santa for the gifts. That was to deter from any hard feelings when others got more (my nephew would always get TONS) and to foster that "giving" spirit....she STILL loves to donate toys to our local toy drive AND Toys for Tots every year.
When she was 3 or 4, she remembered giving to the local drive the past year and insisted we do it then and so we bought something inside Wal-mart, then brought it out and the sheriff (who runs it) was out there, and I mentioned it to the officers and he was so touched, he gave her a goody bag of a bunch of lottery things (LOL). We actually won some money on some lottery ticket scratch-offs that were in the bag, so she chose another gift to donate.
Just on this note....last year, she won $50 in a cystic fibrosis fund raiser, and gave back $5 to the foundation.
Also, she has given no indication that she doesn't believe, but she is so smart that I think she MUST know about Santa!
According to Meredith, she knew for several years before she actually spoke up about it.
Santa was the last to go however.
Tooth Fairy was the first to go.
As she explained it at the time - rabbits and men are real, so the easter bunny and Santa could stay.
My DD figured it out in about Grade 2. I gave the "what do you think?" response as well. Once she was able to articulate the truth I told her she was right but that it was fun to pretend and don't spoil it for others.
Perhaps its helpful for us in that we live in a very ethnically diverse neighborhood. About 30% of her class is Muslim and they don't celebrate Christmas at all along with the Jewish kids who have Hannukah so she has always seen that Santa only comes to some houses and not all. So right there it was a bit suspicious. But I'd let her lead you and when its obvious she figured it out, bring her in on the special secret of Christmas. Santa still visits our house, even gives a present to Mom and to Dad. Its just a fun tradition for us.
I've used the "What do you think?" approach to a number of things with my kids over the years.
Kayleigh didn't let on for a while that she knew Santa wasn't real, but she knew.
I had a coworker once who refused to take her kids to donate to Toys For Tots because it would make them suspect there was no Santa.
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Alexis knew for several years before we had the conversation as well. She was content to play along for our benefit I think but was relieved that she didn't pretend anymore. She was actually quite funny about it. One day she had lost a tooth (a molar, she was probably in third grade) and I just handed her a dollar and said here, this is from the tooth fairy. She said "Thanks, now you won't forget tonight." I then asked her if there was anyone else we needed to talk about and she told me that I was in fact also the Easter Bunny and Santa. She said she had known for a couple of years but kept her mouth shut. I asked her if there was anything else and she said that she also thought I just may be Barney. Then she started laughing like a lunatic.
But later she cried for having given up the truth and I think she was upset to have given that part of being a kid up. I promised her that we would act like we always have and Santa would still bring her presents.
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