Santa Claus

[safechner]

Here,.. in this house,.. Santa is real,... period. As real as the gray in my hair, the dishes in the sink, and the dirt on the mat out front. Here,... Santa ROCKS. Santa and other childhood beliefs are alive and well here. When you stop believing in the magic,.. you become the magic. Last year,... my daughter found out about the tooth fairy,... we were sitting as a family and she said something about putting her tooth under her pillow. Then she looked at me, my husband, my then 18 yr old son,.. and said,.. yes, I should go put it in there right??? and she looked at her big bubby with big crocodile tears,... and said,.. right bubby,....??? He said,.. Yes sweetie,.. go ahead,.. and she took about 3 steps,.. turned around and grabbed him,... crying,.. bubby,... its Mommy isnt it? well,.. he cried, she cried,.. and we all came clean,.. and reminded her that because of the babies she had to be part of the magic,... (the daycare families) then she sat down,... looked at me,.. and said,.. what about easter bunny? I just smiled at her,.... then she point blank said,.. Well I know Santa is real because You guys cant afford cool presents like his..... then Daddy took her in his arms,... hugged her,.. and tears began to fall down this big tough guys face,.. and she just weeped,... She became part of the magic at that moment. She knows,... Santa is the magic, until you dont believe, then you become the magic for others. It was hard on all of us when our baby became the magic. ItHere, if a daycare child had told the secret, I wouldnt have called the mom, I would have called the child, and asked WHAT ON EARTH WOULD MAKE HER DO SUCH A MEAN HATEFUL THING? then I would have told mom that either she discuss with the child how serious an issue it is,.. or she could find other care for her. I dont play with things like this. If she ever said something that inappropriate again,.. she could consider it grounds for termination. That is a respect thing. SHe chose not to respect the rules, people and things in my home,.. and that is a contractual thing. As far as the whole Christmas idea and Is there or isnt there? Here, Im a private, for profit, childcare in an openly christian home. If you don't want your child in a christian environment then you wouldnt have them here.

Thank you! Well said!

[boysx5]

Here,.. in this house,.. Santa is real,... period. As real as the gray in my hair, the dishes in the sink, and the dirt on the mat out front. Here,... Santa ROCKS. Santa and other childhood beliefs are alive and well here. When you stop believing in the magic,.. you become the magic. Last year,... my daughter found out about the tooth fairy,... we were sitting as a family and she said something about putting her tooth under her pillow. Then she looked at me, my husband, my then 18 yr old son,.. and said,.. yes, I should go put it in there right??? and she looked at her big bubby with big crocodile tears,... and said,.. right bubby,....??? He said,.. Yes sweetie,.. go ahead,.. and she took about 3 steps,.. turned around and grabbed him,... crying,.. bubby,... its Mommy isnt it? well,.. he cried, she cried,.. and we all came clean,.. and reminded her that because of the babies she had to be part of the magic,... (the daycare families) then she sat down,... looked at me,.. and said,.. what about easter bunny? I just smiled at her,.... then she point blank said,.. Well I know Santa is real because You guys cant afford cool presents like his..... then Daddy took her in his arms,... hugged her,.. and tears began to fall down this big tough guys face,.. and she just weeped,... She became part of the magic at that moment. She knows,... Santa is the magic, until you dont believe, then you become the magic for others. It was hard on all of us when our baby became the magic. ItHere, if a daycare child had told the secret, I wouldnt have called the mom, I would have called the child, and asked WHAT ON EARTH WOULD MAKE HER DO SUCH A MEAN HATEFUL THING? then I would have told mom that either she discuss with the child how serious an issue it is,.. or she could find other care for her. I dont play with things like this. If she ever said something that inappropriate again,.. she could consider it grounds for termination. That is a respect thing. SHe chose not to respect the rules, people and things in my home,.. and that is a contractual thing. As far as the whole Christmas idea and Is there or isnt there? Here, Im a private, for profit, childcare in an openly christian home. If you don't want your child in a christian environment then you wouldnt have them here.

my feelings all the way

[legomom922]

I would have called the child, and asked WHAT ON EARTH WOULD MAKE HER DO SUCH A MEAN HATEFUL THING? If she ever said something that inappropriate again,.. she could consider it grounds for termination. That is a respect thing. SHe chose not to respect the rules

Mean and hateful thing? What on earth makes you say that about a child?? And you say you are Christian? Christian of what religion?? Whom are you to judge her? Do you know what they believe? Do you have that in your contract? That you can never say anything about Santa Claus in your home? If not, I suggest you put in in there under the santa CLAUSE:

"No child shall ever say that Santa Claus is not real in MY home and if they are caught, it will be grounds for instant termination"

Are you for real?? How many clients do you really think you would have??

Do you honestly think a 7 yr old read and understood your contract and that by her bringing up the TRUTH about santa claus she purposely is disrespecting your rules?

I think you should term them and let them go find a "real" Christian daycare..

I don't understand how people who claim to be Christian, can act in such a un-chrsitian way.......Anyone can say they believe in God, but it's their actions that speak louder and tell the truth...

[nikia]

[QUOTE=legomom922;58272]

I would have called the child, and asked WHAT ON EARTH WOULD MAKE HER DO SUCH A MEAN HATEFUL THING? If she ever said something that inappropriate again,.. she could consider it grounds for termination. That is a respect thing. SHe chose not to respect the rules/QUOTE]

Mean and hateful thing? What on earth makes you say that about a child?? And you say you are Christian? Christian of what religion?? Whom are you to judge her? Do you know what they believe? Do you have that in your contract? That you can never say anything about Santa Claus in your home? If not, I suggest you put in in there under the santa CLAUSE:

"No child shall ever say that Santa Claus is not real in MY home and if they are caught, it will be grounds for instant termination"

Are you for real?? How many clients do you really think you would have??

Do you honestly think a 7 yr old read and understood your contract and that by her bringing up the TRUTH about santa claus she purposely is disrespecting your rules?

I think you should term them and let them go find a "real" Christian daycare..

I don't understand how people who claim to be Christian, can act in such a un-chrsitian way.......Anyone can say they believe in God, but it's their actions that speak louder and tell the truth...

ok the girl was 11 my daughter is 7. do you really think is wrong to ask the mom to ask her daughter to respect anothers beliefs?? Whether it be santa or God.

[laundrymom]

yes mean and hateful,.she was trying to hurt the little ones feelings by ratting out santa. . she was 11 not 7 and yes, it is disrespect. I do have that in my contract, and Im full with a waiting list that goes to march of 2012 so I guess yes. I will be pretty full. I gues Im not christian enough for you but I dont need to be. =-)

[Lucy]

Merry Christmas

[Unregistered]

Santa

My daughter has known that Santa isn't real since she was about 4. She figured it out on her own (it doesn't help when mom & dad use the same wrapping paper as Santa!). She asked us if Santa was real. We tried to change the subject so that we wouldn't have to address it. She said that she thought that Santa was pretend because we use the same wrapping paper as Santa. We asked her if she wanted the truth and she said yes. We told her the truth and we told her that she can never, ever tell any other kids that Santa's not real because it might make them sad. She never did tell anyone about Santa and still loves Christmas as much as she did before she knew.

As far as the christianity aspect goes, I really don't think that believing or not believing in Santa is a good indicator of how good of a christian a person is. I think that the love and compassion that a person shows to others is a much better way to demonstrate faith. Don't be a christian, be Christ-like. I have a hard time believing that Jesus would find Santa offensive, so why should anyone else?

[SunflowerMama]

Merry Christmas

I was thinking the same thing. Let's direct everyone back to our 'Thankful thread' and brighten up this day a bit.

[QualiTcare]

My daughter has known that Santa isn't real since she was about 4. She figured it out on her own (it doesn't help when mom & dad use the same wrapping paper as Santa!). She asked us if Santa was real. We tried to change the subject so that we wouldn't have to address it. She said that she thought that Santa was pretend because we use the same wrapping paper as Santa. We asked her if she wanted the truth and she said yes. We told her the truth and we told her that she can never, ever tell any other kids that Santa's not real because it might make them sad. She never did tell anyone about Santa and still loves Christmas as much as she did before she knew.

As far as the christianity aspect goes, I really don't think that believing or not believing in Santa is a good indicator of how good of a christian a person is. I think that the love and compassion that a person shows to others is a much better way to demonstrate faith. Don't be a christian, be Christ-like. I have a hard time believing that Jesus would find Santa offensive, so why should anyone else?

my daughter was 4 when she started questioning santa also without any help from a tattle tale. i told her he's real just bc it's fun, but i know she's still skeptical. she only believes because i told her he's real. i was telling my friend about it when she started questioning and he said he's always told his children santa isn't real because he wants them to know that HE is the one who works hard to buy them the gifts they want - not some made up in a red suit get the credit :: makes sense.

that's funny about the wrapping paper. my daughter found her tooth from the tooth fairy in my purse bc my whole family thinks my purse is theirs too - she was digging for gum. she looked shocked and i said, "that's just the case. the tooth fairy got the tooth and left the case so i can use it again"

i grew up with siblings who were tweens when i was 5/6 and they told me santa wasn't real. i didn't believe them and it just made christmas more fun, actually. my younger siblings and i would sleep in the same bed and try to stay up all night and sneak down the steps to see what our parents were doing, etc. those are some of the best memories i have - santa hunting.

[Abigail]

I don't see a problem of calling the parents, but make sure you're not "steamed" when you call. I probably would have left a message to call you back or spoke to her in the morning at drop off. It's a matter of the older children being respectful of the younger children.

We have a section in our handbook that states what we celebrate including all holidays and birthdays and also welcome any other event teachings if someone was a different religion or background, etc. Once year (this is back in laboratory preschool) we have one parent who didn't want to celebrate birthdays (I think, don't quote me), so all we did was say Happy Birthday and called it good for that child. The other families who had birthdays would bring in cupcakes and we would just say who's birthday it was and how old they were to the class. The rest of the talk was more along the lines, "Do you want to come to my party"...etc. We worked around it anyways.

Most daycare providers do have a Holiday or Special Occassions area stating what they will celebrate. They also include that if they wish their child not participate in something that arrangements be made that they remain home that day. Besides, they can always find care elsewhere or with family if something was such a huge issue. Bringing this back to Santa though, maybe you can add something about fictional characters including the tooth fairy, santa clause, easter bunny, etc. You could even ask the parents to share how they handle things, but in the end it boils down to being respectful and letting the younger kids believe in "magic".

For all those stubborn people out there, have you watched any children's shows? I'm not going to be the one who says Barney and the Backyardigans characters are fake until they're ready to hear it. Not all kids are ready to "grow up" and become the magic at the same time. I would be heart broken if I didn't get to take pictures on Santa's lap when I was little and watch movies about Santa and Rudolph.

[nikia]

I think you should term them and let them go find a "real" Christian daycare..

Wow I THOUGHT THIS FORUM WAS FOR ADVICE AND SUPPORT THAT WAS HARSH.

[Lianne]

Well, I am also Christian, and we do not believe in santa claus or the easter bunny. I dont even call it easter, we call it resurrection day. Nor do I celebrate halloween. To me, the "magic" is Jesus birth and how he came to save the world. I would never have any type of a santa decoration up..in fact the pic of santa makes me sick...In my opnion, telling kids about santa is lying, and diminshes our saviours birth, and kids grow up not believing in Jesus, if you ask my kids, they will tell you there is no santa. Kids will tell other kids what they believe because that is how they were raised, and everyone has different beliefs, which they are entitled to. So before you go jumping down the parents throat, you should find out why they dont believe in santa.

So, it's okay if your children tell my children there's no Santa Claus because you don't believe in him. So, I guess it won't be offensive to you when my children inform your children that there is no Jesus and that Jesus is a lie parents tell their children so they will behave. We don't believe in Jesus or anything related to him so, based on your Santa theory, it's okay for us to correctly inform your children about him.

[MyAngels]

When you stop believing in the magic,.. you become the magic.

This is a really nice way to think about it, thanks for sharing!

[daysofelijah]

So, it's okay if your children tell my children there's no Santa Claus because you don't believe in him. So, I guess it won't be offensive to you when my children inform your children that there is no Jesus and that Jesus is a lie parents tell their children so they will behave. We don't believe in Jesus or anything related to him so, based on your Santa theory, it's okay for us to correctly inform your children about him.

Lianne, get real, I think there is a big difference between Santa and Jesus. I think you should be able to recognize that even if you choose not to believe in Christ.

[legomom922]

Wow I THOUGHT THIS FORUM WAS FOR ADVICE AND SUPPORT THAT WAS HARSH.

What is harsh is that you said you would terminate a child for saying santa isn't real!! Now is that Christlike??