evening to you all,my seven year old son has just asked me a question about father Christmas....?

Question

he said,mommy do you remeber when you said that father christmas looks after all the little girls and boys inthe world? yes l sad to him,but he than said why are there children dyeing from having no food or homes to sleep in? This bought a tear to my eye,what do you sat back? thank you

Answer 1

I guess the answer is that Father Christmas (Saint Nicholas) is only given the power by God to administer to the needs of people and children at Christmas. This is his special time. The rest of the time it is left to the warmth and charity of human kind.

The further answer to that is also because God needs beautiful children like you to ask that very question and he hopes that because of the goodness in your heart and the goodness of others that things like Live Aid will happen to help the starving and the sick in the poorest countries.

Answer 2

Children are great at reviewing information and then coming back with a logical question - good on him. As he's 7 you could do some research together about Father Christmas and St Nicholas and where that tradition came from. St Nicholas day is 6th December so why not do something special that day for children round the world who haven't got much?. You could do a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child or buy something from a charity shop such as Oxfam and explain how that helps children who have no homes to sleep in, use his language to aid his understanding. Have fun.

Answer 3

It is around about this age that children become more socially aware. My 6 year old was talking to me about Steve Irwin (Australia's Crocodile man). After STeve died and all the attention on Steve Irwin stopped my son asked " So when is steve coming back". I had to explain a little more about death and dying and the permanancy of it. In your case you need to be a little more honest with him and that way he will continue to trust you. You could say
" Well santa helps as many boys and girls as he can but he cant do it all and taht is why people donate to world aid and volunteer". You only need to give a little bit of information at the moment - by 8 or 9 they will have grown out of santa and will be ready to accept some of the more harsher truths but at the moment he will be happy with a simple answer - any answer realy but try to keep it truthful as possible otherwise he will lose his trust in your answers.

It would be nice if children believed in Santa and all the nice things for a lot longer but TV and other media make that quite impossibe. Good luck

Answer 4

That is a really tough question. I don't have children yet, but when I do, I will probably explain to them that God still looks out for people in his own way, and I would take my child to a nightshelter to volunteer for a mealtime there. Kids are welcome to volunteer there as well I believe with special permission (you could always call ahead of time and see). Or you could ask your son if he would like to start saving some of his allowance money for a special cause such as world vision which helps needy children, for I think $25 a month you can sponsor a child and get letters from the child which is really neat. I sponsor one and I enjoy getting hand written letters from her and her family letting me know how much they appreciate my support. They are in Africa where there is so much going on right now. The link is below if you want to check it out. Good luck!

Answer 5

It depends on what other stuff you've told him about Father Christmas ....(try this for example) "In the Spirit of Father Christmas, who showed people how to give and care for the children, adults have gotten so busy that they haven't retained the valuble lesson that was taught --- that's why I'm teaching you to remember the less fortunate and I hope you always think of others and encourage your friends to do the same thing for as long as you live."

Answer 6

You can help Father Christmas look after all the poor and hungry children in the world. Rather than headng for Toys R Us this Christmas why not log onto http://worldgifts.cafod.org.uk and give a goat, a school starter set, or a cow to a third world country.

Answer 7

It's good that your child has started to care about others at such a young age. Tell him that Father Christmas can't be everywhere at once, and needs help. Then take him to volunteer at a shelter, soup kitchen, or clothing drive. This could be a great learning experience for him.

Answer 8

Father Christmas is getting old now and finds it hard to get around to all the children these days. However, he is looking for a helper in about ten years time. So if your son is a very good boy he might be able to be santa's helper in ten years time.

Answer 9

tell him that father christmas works very hard to make sure all little boys and girls get food and homes to sleep in, but there is only so much to go around. and that is why we are all asked to help by donating food and money to charities and volunteering at homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

this may inspire him to do the latter once he gets older.

Answer 10

i'm 29 and that i truthfully have faith in a "Father Christmas" i've got faith interior the "Spirit" of pop Christmas. I recommend, did you ever word that around that factor of 12 months, regardless of faith, subculture, etc... it only looks so plenty extra friendly time. truthfully, the thought of pop Christmas is quite super. All toddlers of the international are considered as equivalent. And, what's incorrect with "believing"???