Oh yeah, and then I can watch her get teased and picked on by all her peers, not to mention the parents who would ridicule her as well!

I'll take my chances with the explanation I gave her, thank you.

Must have made great conversation at the dinner table

Sorry Carmen, you are a good Mom, I just can not see telling my children to beleive in a fictional character.the sooner they know the truth the better as far as I am concerned.

Yeah it got pretty interesting some nights. I insist in being straight with people and especially kids. No crap.

Just tell your kids that theres this old guy who stalks them and if they're bad he'll break in to your house on Christmas and give you what you deserve

Dad insisted on the quite at the table rule IT SUXED I would always start blathering about this or that and would be excused to my room for the remainder of suppertime LOL

Sorry Carmen, you are a good Mom, I just can not see telling my children to beleive in a fictional character.the sooner they know the truth the better as far as I am concerned.

Thats no good. Family communication is important. It very rarely is a reality with people's schedules and divorces and everything else.

Thank you for the compliment and I think everyone is entitled to give their children any explanation they want about Christmas and Santa Claus.

When my daughter was about 6 years old, she asked me, "Mommy, if all the presents are made at the North Pole, and Santa is supposed to bring them to us, why do we have to go shopping for presents?"

Now before I get bashed for the answer I gave her, let me first explain that I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness (until I was 17) and we didn't celebrate Christmas and there definitely was no such thing as Santa Clause. I was picked on big time as a child because of it, and trust me, it was not a fun time for me having to defend myself because of it.

So in answer to my daughter's question, I told her that Santa is a very busy man with lots of presents to give out and sometimes he needs a little help. So he asks the parents and Aunts and Uncles and any family and friends to help out so that everyone can get a present. I also told her that some people can't afford to get that much, but that everyone should appreciate whatever it is that was given to them. This answer seem to satisfy her, and she even made the comment "So if I don't get everything I asked for, it's not because I was bad, it's just because you didn't have enough money." I told her that was exactly right! I figured she was better off hearing that explanation then me just saying there was no such thing as Santa Clause and that me and her family buy all the presents. I didn't want her to have to go through the torment that I went through as a kid.

Since then, she has told everyone that explanation and not only has no one ridiculed her for it, but the kids respond with something like "So, that's how he does it" and the parents seem to like the explanation as well.

So I guess my question to everyone is do you tell your child/children if there really is a Santa Clause or not? Or how would you respond to the question my daughter asked? Do you have your own belief system in what Christmas and Santa Claus is all about?

Of course we are all offering you our opinions because you asked. Lets not forget that.

It's interesting how sensitive this subject can get. I believed in Santa Claus until late in grade school.... probably 5th grade or so. I didn't think there was any way in hell my dad would buy me all that stuff.

Raising my own kids, we kept santa alive long after they started to question it. But it was done in fun.... kind of an "I know there's no Santa.... I know you know there's no Santa but we're gonna pretend there is and leave just a shadow of doubt" kind of thing. When each one got old enough, they came over to the other side, they got to join in on creating the illusion and playing the game with the others. We used to say that that's what santa really is. To this day they make us enforce some of those rules and rituals associated with Santa.