I am "playing" Santa this Saturday for Jamie out at Camp Y-Koda for a Brunch with Santa workshop she has set up. The kids are from 4 to 10 years.

So what do I say when they ask if I am the "real" Santa?

Do I tell them the truth?

What about questions about The Economy like.."Will my Daddy find a job soon?"

I know its quite a stretch…me being Santa seeing as I am so young and not as rotund as the jolly elf.

But I want to do a nice job for these kids and make it fun.

Should I watch "Bad Santa" before hand?

Or Elf?

Just be Santa…tell them that Santa gives presents, and that you're not a Recruiter. 

Tell them that you are the Real Santa…it's that time of year…if the older ones don't bite…then deal with it…but I'm sure that the younger ones won't even question it.

Santa RULZ!

Or you can ask them if they're the real whatever their name is. =)

Tell them who you really are and that you murdered Santa and are wearing his flesh as a suit.

And then tell them if they ask anymore questions, you're going to steal their souls to power your sleigh.

LMFAO at Richard!!!!

I like Richard's answer.

Actually Richard, I was going to tell them that Jesus' birthday is really in August and that he and Mary Magdelene did the hibbity dibbity and had children.

Plus turn them onto Darwinism, so they know creationism is total crap.

But hell, I think I will lie instead.

Frankly, I hate having to lie about Santa Claus. I know, I know… it's tradition… but for me it ranks up there with the Pilgims & Indians bullshit that gets perpetrated at Thanskgiving and the cherry tree myth they tell kids about George Washington.

We told Madeline a few months ago that there wasn't a Santa, so that's one down, three to go. Only 9 or so more years of lying! Woot!

I doubt the kids will ask you any of that stuff, to be honest… except maybe the older ones.

And I LOVE Sprung's response.  That's friggin' smart.

I don't think of it as lying about Santa.

But then I still believe in the whole "Santa" thing.  I look forward to seeing Santa..and I call him Santa when I see him.

Santa is the bomb..and the sprit behind what he stands for is enough that I feel I'm not lying about him.

I love talking to my kids about how he's going to get into our house.  Us leaving a letter outside asking him to come in through the back door as we have a Pellet Stove and we don't want him to get burned coming in with the fire on…

I love leaving "Reindeer dust" outside to attract Santa and his sleigh.  I love taking the kids from Grocery to Grocery looking for Carrots with the greens on the ends for the Reindeer.

I love making cookies with the kids to leave out for Santa.

And I love the looks on the faces of the wee ones when the come running into our room to let us know that Santa came because there's presents under the tree that weren't there the night before…

ANd then reading them the thank you letter that Santa Wrote when he came and left the gifts and had the cookies and milk.

You Call it Lying…I call it enjoying the season.

I plan on taking the kids to see Santa up until I can't get out anymore…or they have moved away and can't get back for Christmas.

I love Santa…and I still Believe!!!

From Last Year…

Adorable.

And you do know I lied to my kids and I will lie to my grandkids.

I am not that much of a kill joy.

I miss Santa…

I miss having little kids who's eyes light up when they see him…

or the excitment of them running around Christmas Eve.. and getting so kiddy that they try and try to stay awake.. and fall asleep..
I miss them coming down the stairs in the morning and their mouths dropping open at the lights, stockings and presents…
I miss them writing out their letters…

I miss them setting the cookies and Coke in a glass…  and putting carrots out for the reindeer…

when my kids were little.. I always told them this…

When you write Santa.. give him some options… cause sometimes he runs out of really popular items and that way, he knows what to get out of his sleigh as a back up…

My kids used to always say.. "I know I am not getting everything in my letter… but Santa can whose which ones he wants to give me… "

When we saw Santa in the mall.. or malls.. I used to tell them… "Santa can't be in every mall at the same time so he hired all these guys…  all of these Santa's work for the real Santa.  They all report back to him at the end of the day on what the kids have said.  But, one of those Santa's IS the real Santa.  So you never know.. you could really be sitting on the REAL Santa's lap… so be nice!"

That kinda answered their questions why the Santa's looked different at the different locations.. lol

The spirit and excitement behind Santa is what counts most at Christmas time…  that was what was the best… and still is.. I love it!!

I never believed in having presents at different houses from Santa.. you know.. "Oh.. Santa stopped by here cause he knew you were coming".  Ummm.. no… Santa comes to your own house… not Aunt Betty's or Grandpa's and Cousin George's.  I think that just adds to kids being greedy… now.. it's different if you are staying at someone's house Christmas Eve… cause. Santa does know where you are.. lol

ok.. I rambled enough….

;O)

I remember actually getting into arguments with my cousins at Grandma Prigge's house about whose house Santa would stop at first.

LOL

I think kids should be able to enjoy believing in Santa for as long as possible…

When my kids would come home from school questioning whether Santa was real…because you know…. there's always that one kid…who's parents had to kill the magic of Christmas…and that kid has to be a kill joy for everyone else…

I would just tell my kids that if they believed Santa in their heart to be real…then he is real.

Christmas is never the same once you do realize that Santa isn't real.  Why not let kids live the magic for as long as possible?  What harm does it do?

My grandfather was a constable when I was little.  He would turn on his scanner on Christmas eve so we could listen for Santa being spotted…

I couldn't get in bed fast enough….

My kids would track NORAD…and we would throw special reindeer food outside for Santa's reindeer…(oats mixed with glitter).

It's a bummer not having the kids wake us up at 5am (we just went to bed at 3am after putting things together) to see if Santa has been to the house…or Chip and I eating the milk and cookies…or the quiet time Chip and I would have together as we put the toys together…being almost as excited as the kids because we couldn't wait to see the pure JOY on our kids faces as they came down the stairs…

While the true meaning of Christmas is not lost upon us…(which I don't even want to get into the religious aspect here).

I really miss the magic and joy believing in Santa…growing up happens way too fast…I wanted my kids to hold on to that magic for as long as they could.

Speaking of which…HEY SEAN…

I am pretty sure that next weekend is the weekend that Santa will be making his annual visit through our neighborhood…

Let me know if you want to bring the kids over…

Somewhere I came across a a really good picture of Leslie and Noah with Santa from a few years ago…I need to find that and get it to you…

Yea, that's one thing that's great about Peanut's dad being a LT on the Fire Departmant.  The scanner of all the local fire departments tracking Santa from one town to another…Hadley loved that that last few years..

And yes, we track them on Norad when they aren't in Mass.

We have someone that has a horse drawn sled around here.  If there's snow on the ground, he dresses up as Santa and goes around picking up familes for rides around the neighborhood.  It's really cool.  Peanut made spiced cider one time to pass out to the people… 

It's good to see people really get into Christmas.

That's what we have too.  Santa comes through the neighborhood and makes stops so the kids can sit on his lap and make their christmas wishes.

If it is snowing…it's a horse drawn sleigh…if not…it's a john deere with a platform.

Santa's elves lead the way in a van that blares Christmas music and they hand out treats…cocoa and warm cider…

Doesn't matter what the age…everyone comes out to see Santa.

you could start with

"Ho Ho Ho"

... call me a traditionalist. :)

I'm not necessarily pissing on the idea of children believing in Santa, and I didn't tell my oldest until she made it very clear that she knew already.

But for me, personally, Christmas isn't a big deal. I go along with it and smile, because it doesn't hurt me or bother me to do so -- even if it did bother me, I'd still go along with it because it's fun for almost everyone else in America. And who doesn't like giving and receiving presents?

Darlene.. I was the same as you..

when my kids starting asking if Santa was real.. I would tell them…. "as long as you believe in Santa.. Santa will come.  The day you stop believing.. is the day he stops coming."

And yes.. there is more to Christmas than just Santa.. but.. I leave that out of conversations as everyone is different..  . lol