General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: As a child, did your parents/guardians tell you that Santa brought you gifts at Christmas? [View all]underahedgerow
(1,232 posts)I think there is something important for children to have magic and fantasies and fairy tales in their lives when very young. My absolute best most favorite treasured memory is making my daughter's early christmas mornings something very special and magical. I never did over the top 10 million presents, some holidays were very skint, but we still managed to make it incredibly special.
I grew up really crappy with depressed angry parents and a depraved brother. We had no magical moments in my house, that's just how it was. So when I decided to have my daughter I was of a good age to know what was possible to make a great childhood, and devoted myself to making sure she was really grounded, but knowing that all things are possible. She's turned out great, now age 22 and doing very well.
When she was little we didn't have a lot of money, but each year I would start filling my coin jar by spending only paper money each day and putting all the change in the jar. By December I would have nearly 400 bucks saved up, and if in the early Fall I would find good gifts, I would dip into the jar if I needed to.
As I was buying gifts early at a good price, I would start seeding our little chats with things she could add to her christmas list... 'Gosh that Angel Barbie is so pretty! Should we add that to your christmas list?' Worked a treat, she was convinced that Santa rocked! Yes, the evil horrible mother I was indulged commerciality, Barbies, Disney, the works! (she still turned out fine. I really tried gender neutral toys, but she wouldn't give them the time of day. If it wasn't pepto-bismol pink, it was a waste of money. *sigh*)
By the time she was 5 or 6 though, I knew there was a danger of the other kids spilling the beans, so we had our Santa chat. What I did though, was tell her to never, ever tell other smaller kids that santa wasn't real, that she had to keep their little dreams alive. We have to share the magic you see.... even if it's only for a short while. I think believing in magic when we're young enables us to see all the other possiblilities when we're older. We have to believe that anything is possible...
Merry Christmas.