Children and Father Christmas.

Scotland generally calls him Santa, I believe, although I'm happy to be proved wrong. I think believing in Santa is fine, as long as children eventually grow out of it. Perhaps there needs to be a balance? My DD and Dsil tell the boys that the most expensive toys are from them with other ones from Santa. I think that's a healthy approach. There will be children who don't get expensive toys who might wonder why Santa left them out.
I see nothing wrong with a magical world which children and adults can enter.

FC was sold to me as magic and this worked with our children, though acutely logical DS was unconvinced. Memories of childhood Christmases would be much bleaker without the 6.00 am whispers of “he’s been!”

The magic and wonder of childhood should be cherished and nurtured, especially at Christmas time.

The look on our children’s faces and now our grandchildren when the mince pie, carrots and sherry (no idea how many generations of our family have left sherry for FC, at least five that I now of) has been consumed and there are gifts in their stockings is absolutely priceless.

The crib service on Christmas Eve, the school nativity and carol concerts all add to the festive season.

(Might add that we also have the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy in our families)

You are correct, Grandmabatty. We Scots are happy to correct the misapprehension that Santa Claus (and Halloween) are American imports. I think that the story or Santa should be left up to families to follow the tradition or not. We follow the simple approach of presents from family and a stocking from Santa and I am not inclined to mess with this tradition.

Does it hurt to let children be children and revel in the magic of Christmas, tooth fairies and Easter rabbits? They are encouraged to grow up too quickly these days. Too many parents indulge Primary age children with mobile phones etc. and all the dubious content they hold. I have 5 children and 9 grandchildren. None of them have needed therapy on finding out the truth behind these childhood myths. It's only the youngest at just 10 who still believes in Father Christmas. It's lovely to see her older sister and cousins indulge her and let her enjoy the magic instead of telling her about Father Christmas. She will grow up soon enough.

My children had only stockings (actual socks) filled by Santa. All other gifts were from people.

I spent all year collecting tiny (but lovely) things to go in them as there were 7 of us.
We all still have a stocking. I bought a great small torch for my husband's stocking only yesterday and a rather lush handcream for my mother-in-law's (can't leave her out can we!).

It must have chocolate coins in (and in the old days I saved up the shiniest real coins and shared those out too) - and it needs a satsuma/mandarin and some nuts.
Everything in the stocking was out of its packaging and very tightly wrapped in tissue paper so you can fit about seven or eight very small treats in.

Christmas was not Santa though. He was just a part of it.

They all knew that the Santas in the department stores were not real. They knew they were "just for fun".

I honestly don't think they could have been any more excited.

Happy days.

Ah yes “the cotton wool beards” didn’t help!

In this family Father Christmas has always brought little things in stockings only - other presents are from family.

I for one am very glad my parents didn’t see fit to be ‘honest’ with us, not while we were still little believers, anyway. I still remember very fondly the enormous excitement of FC coming on Christmas Eve - ditto waking in the dark early hours to find that he’d been! - and there was a bulging stocking at the end of the bed.

Naturally I wanted dds to experience the same, and glad to say dd1 is repeating it with the Gdcs, 🎅🏻🎄

We always had a tangerine and chocolate coins in the toe of the stocking, and for years the stockings were my father’s thick grey sea boot socks - knitted by my mother for him during WW2 - he was RN and spent 2 years in the North Atlantic.

I found out only very recently that my youngest sister still has one of those socks - very tattered now - which is still used for her DD’s stocking - niece is over 30 and a PhD! 😂.

We were lucky, our two grandchildren along with my daughter stayed here every Christmas Eve from birth until a couple of years ago, so we relived that wonder again. For Mr J is was particularly special as my children were 8 and 13 when we became a couple, so just through the Christmas Eve magic stage.
Stockings were from FC, Tree presents from family and friends

I believed in Father Christmas. At some point during a child’s life other older children start telling you he’s not real ‘It’s your mum and dad’. So I thought that for a few years but there came a time when I didn’t have any parents. I still get a stocking so he does exist 🎅

My father was absolutely honest "there is no such person as Father Christmas" there was no faffing around with mince pies being left out for him, because from the earliest age we knew he simply didn't exist, our presents came from parents and aunts and uncles that was it! I think my parents rationale was he, Father Christmas was presented as an omnipresent being which conflicted with their Catholic ideals, in that presence equates to God so no writing letters to him but umpteen afterwards to thank the relatives for the presents we received, something that's also died a death.

I created the whole Father Christmas myth for my children and grandchildren, until it was eventually shattered.

Oh TerriBull, that is sad .

Glad you didn’t carry that message on for your own family.

🎅

We always put out mince pies and a carrot on Christmas Eve, a tradition that my AC have continued with their children.
Stocking presents are from Santa.

I have made stockings for all the family over the years. I did suggest to DS that his baby son might inherit his stocking as we no longer do stockings for AC. He was horrified! So his stocking is in the drawer under my bed (why?!) and GS has had one made especially for himself. Honestly, kids!!

I remember my sibling and I all staying awake as long as possible to see Father Christmas arrive - but were always asleep before he got there. Our parents used to sneak down early and put the pressies near the tree, never many because we didn't have much money and mainly picked so we could all share them. We always had stockings with an orange, nuts, chocolate money and a variety of other edible things.

I don't remember when we stopped believing in Father Christmas but none of us were traumatized by finding out he wasn't real. Same with GC - at some point he just became a fictional character but still part of Christmas.

It was definitely Father Christmas in our house. My Mother didn't approve of "Santa" - but that was a few decades ago. Grandson called him Santa. Different era. I'm not sure if it's an Americanism or not - Santa Claus is from St Nicholas and on the Continent, some countries celebrate St Nicholas Day (6th December maybe?).

It's a wonderful thing and should never go. Grandson believed until he was about 8 - even though schoolfriends were unbelievers by then. The ones with younger siblings still believed I think as the parents wanted to keep the magic for the younger one.

I have wonderful memories of it - in particular because I am still absolutely convinced I saw him at the end of my bed, filling my pair of tights (we had a pair of tights rather than a stocking which was great fun). I woke up and looked at the end of my bed and there he was. I went back to sleep again and told everyone and have been telling them ever since.

I also knitted a giant sock for Grandson, as a stocking :-)

I always felt we were all taking part in an elaborate "story".
Not sure I ever wholeheartedly believed, but that was part of the fun,

Calendargirl

Oh TerriBull, that is sad .

Glad you didn’t carry that message on for your own family.

🎅

No I didn't carry it on with it for my children, I wanted a bit of the magic of The Father Christmas rigmarole as long as it lasted. In retrospect I still felt I had a lot that went with Christmas to make it special, presents, Christmas treats we were often taken up to London for a film or something like The Nutcracker, but first and foremost it was a religious feast in our house and at school and Father Christmas was conveyed as make believe. Sometimes I'm quite nostalgic for the Christmas past because there was far less commercialism. I was in the Cotswolds this week and we went to Tewkesbury Abbey where some fairly young school children were rehearsing inside for their Christmas Carol Concert The best experience of the week, took me right back.

gentleshores

I also knitted a giant sock for Grandson, as a stocking :-)

I made stockings for dds out of an old stretchy red jersey dress that was past its best. Stitched their initials on in green felt, and a mini knitted snowman at the top. They’re still functional 30 odd years later!

I don't think it does any harm to have some magic in a child's life and Father Christmas certainly did no harm to me or my sister in our childhood , we carried on with all the family traditions connected to Father Christmas with our own children and they have done the same with their children.

I’m not sure I ever believed in Father Christmas. We didn’t have stockings or put out mince pies etc for him though one present would appear on our bed overnight to unwrap in the dawn light. I think I stopped even half thinking that FC was real the year he gave me a very boring copy of Gulliver’s Travels.

Presents would be waiting under the tree for us and we weren’t allowed to go into the sittingroom until everyone had breakfasted and dressed. Waiting for dad to have a shave seem endless! Gifts were always a surprise, I’m not sure where my mum hid them in the run up, especially for four of us. The year I got a dolls house from my parents and furniture from otjer people is probably my most memorable childhood Christmas.

Oh, and the excitement of my grandad putting up his Christmas lights - he lived with us. They were the old fashioned ones with pear-shaped bulbs and FC heads. He used to teeter about on a ladder while he wired them into the central light of his sitting room. Would they explode? Were any of the bulbs broken? Or even working? Would he fuse the entire house? Set us on fire? The anticipation was almost unbearable!

MissAdventure

I always felt we were all taking part in an elaborate "story".
Not sure I ever wholeheartedly believed, but that was part of the fun,

I think I felt the same. I always really hated xmas, even as a child. It always seemed like a massive anticlimax to me.

Well I found it all magical. Singing ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ with my little sister by a lit Christmas tree. Going to bed so excited. Straining our ears for sleigh bells and then in the morning opening the door downstairs together in the half light of a grey morning, mysterious shapes spilling over onto the carpet from chairs set just so. “He’s been!”!

Well I confess I felt cheated when it wasn't real.

It seemed like quite a big deception to me.