112

At what age and how do you tell children about the truth of Christmas? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago by Clymene@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

114 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm writing this as someone who has mostly lived in the US and Canada. Personally, I find the whole "lying to children about Christmas" thing just a bit weird (no judgment on those who enjoy this aspect of the holiday). But because it's completely normalized in our culture, this is something many people have to deal with.

Two questions:

What age does this normally happen? I suppose you want the "magic of Christmas" at younger ages, but it gets embarrassing at a certain point.

And how does it normally happen? Let them find out from others through people at school? Tell them explicitly during a "talk"? Let them figure it out on their own?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Thordros@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

We used Santa (et al.) as an exercise in critical thinking. Outside of saying, "Yep, the Easter Bunny did it." we never directly lied about it. If they asked a question about it, we answered truthfully.

Child: "Whoa, how does he visit all those homes in one night?"

Dad: "It's impossible unless he uses magic."

C: "Whoa magic is real??"

D: "Nope."

They all figured it out on their own before they hit grade school.

[-] oshitwaddup@lemmy.antemeridiem.xyz 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's what my parents did too. Backfired on them when I left religion years later lmao

They thought it was funny/cute when I tried to argue with other kids about it, but aren't so happy when I argue about religion with them now 😆

[-] ThisIsAManWhoKnowsHowToGling@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

Wow, your parents raised you to think critically for yourself, then got upset when you thought critically for yourself? Lol

That being said, I'm glad your parents had their priorities in order

[-] oshitwaddup@lemmy.antemeridiem.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

they weren't upset that I was thinking critically, but they're not happy I left the church. In their mind thinking critically points to the church. And I can be pretty argumentative when I disagree with someone and think they're pretty straightforwardly wrong, hence arguing about santa as a kid and religion with them 😂

But i'm definitely glad they did too

[-] ThisIsAManWhoKnowsHowToGling@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

I am sure they are still proud of you.

[-] oshitwaddup@lemmy.antemeridiem.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah I think in a lot of ways they are

this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2023

112 points (93.8% liked)

Asklemmy

43852 readers

676 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
!lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS