Will is damage my child psychological if I teach her not to believe in Santa Claus?

Question

I want to raise my child in a Christian home. I want my child to know to real meaning of Christmas and not all this commercialized stuff. I don't want her to celebrate to Easter Bunny either. I want to teach my child the real meaning of Christmas and Easter. I don't want my child to celebrate Holloween either. As evil as the devil is, I don't want to give him one day out of the year to celebrate.

So, being a Christian, I feel like the above yet, on the other hand, I think about things like the story of Little Red Riding hood and Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs and those stories are real, but we read them to our children away. Sometimes, I think to myself, what's the harm teaching my child Santa Claus.

I don't want to damage my child Pschologically if all of her friends are celebrating Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Holloween. What do you think? Should I just teach my child that as Christians, we have to not follow the world's view of things but destinguish ourselves.

Answer 1

There is only ONE who "knows if you've been sleeping,
knows if you'r awake, knows if you've been good or bad,
so be good for" Jesus sake!!! When you tell your children
these LIES about santa, you cause that child to worship
another God, which is idolatry. How can you expect your
child to believe that you were telling the truth when you
told them about Jesus if you were not telling the truth about
santa. Move the "n" from the heart of the word santa and
put it at the end of the word and what do you get? Satan.

So many similarities between the true God and santa;
they are both clothed in red, Jesus' is the blood He shed.
You ask them for things, they both travel through the sky,
and both are from "up" high, santa rises up the chimney, but
Jesus rises from the dead, "no bolt nor lock can keep them
out and both have a mighty shout.

If you and your family wish to celebrate our Lord's birth, do
it in truth, because satan is a liar and the father of it, John 8:44. Satan's greatest joy is to be praised in the place of
the True God; don't give him this joy!!!

Answer 2

Not to knock your parental values or anything, but what exactly is the harm in teaching her about Santa AND Jesus? My little cousins all come from a religious Catholic family, and every Christmas Eve before Mass, they all gather and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, and yet they still get a visit from "Santa" on Christmas morning. I just don't get why it has to be one or the other. After all, "Santa" is based on St. Nicholas, who really is a Catholic saint, so therefore, Santa, or at least his real-life counterpart, is a religious idea as well.

As for the Easter Bunny, I don't see what harm it would do believing in him as well as knowing about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection and all that. I mean, when you think about it, the Crucifixion is a scary story, and I think the child needs the Easter Bunny just to balance out what can otherwise be a very sad holiday.

If you choose to only teach her about the religious aspect of these holidays, that's fine, but I also feel that you should caution her not to tell the other kids on the playground, etc. that "there's no Santa, there's no Easter Bunny, etc." because it may not do her any psychological damage personally, but just imagine the devastation that she will cause all the other children who have been raised to believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny if your daughter tells them that they don't exist.

And for Halloween, yes, I personally feel that it is doing your children a disservice if you don't allow them to participate in Halloween activities. If you are against the Pagan, "devil" aspect of the holiday, just don't let her dress up as a vampire or a devil or anything like that, but what is the harm in dressing her as a princess or Barbie, or better yet, an angel (very religious!) to go to a little party thrown by her school or her little friends. If she isn't allowed to participate in all of the fun that goes along with Halloween, she might resent you for it down the road.

Oh, and P.S. Halloween isn't "the devil's day," it is actually All Hallows' Eve, which started out as a religious holiday to celebrate dead ancestors. The following day is All Saints' Day, honoring all the saints. You really can't get more religious than that!

Answer 3

Santa Claus was based on a real person and should represent the Spirit of Christmas, however nowhere does it say that you have to celebrate him.
Christmas is being forced underground now anyway. Don´t most people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I personally think that "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens is as good a way as any to behave at that time. I do find it annoying that all the old favorite movies that used to be seen on TV in December are no longer shown at that season.
Having said all the above I think you should make your own mind up about things but not be so strict that you can´t give a little here and there. After all, other people have their viewpoints as well.

Answer 4

You might look pretty silly if your child ever finds out the pagan origins of Easter and Christmas, and/or how benign and even healthy Halloween is. But, that's your choice.

Although I'm a pagan, I have fun playing pretend with Santa and the Easter bunny. I will never lie and tell my kids they are real, but we can have fun pretending as the gifts come out at night. Heck, my husband and I take turns sneaking downstairs to fill each others' stockings and baskets. We did before the kids were born. Pretending is fun.

And by the way, Saint Nicholas was real once. He was a kind old wealthy man who gave the children of his village treats in their stockings on Christmas eve. He became a legend of generosity and goodwill to children. He doesn't live at the north pole or anywhere else since the 13th century, but he was real. Some stories even say he was a Christian monk, so how about that!

Relax! Your children will still learn morals and how to be a good person even if you let them enjoy life a little.

Answer 5

A have a good friend thats a Christian and never taught her children that Santa and the Easter Bunny were true, though they did always get to experience the holidays the way most people do. There isnt anything wrong with telling your children stories, as long as they know its a story. Don't tell them to believe in something you know not to be true. You can treat Santa and the Easter bunny the way you would any children's story. Make believe is fun and good for child development. It's when you know something is make believe but have told your children for years that its real that causes the problem.

Answer 6

SANTA ISN'T REAL! *gasp*
Well yeah, your child will tell her friends, who will be completely shocked. I don't see any problem with her believing in Santa Claus. My whole family is Christian and all the little kids get presents from 'Santa'. But we also knew the true meaning of Christmas, and we had a HUGE nativity scene...
When I was little I believed truly, truly, in Santa but I was very devoted to God and Sunday was my fav day of the week because of church. Although when I got a bit older I found it suspicious that Santa's wrapping paper looked just like my parents'.
And yeah, let your child dress up for Halloween. I don't see anything wrong with that. All kids love dressing up and being scary...I think it's more fun then..devilish.
As for easter, let your kid believe in the Easter Bunny as long as he/she understands that the REAL meaning of easter is not candy eggs. She/he should understand that it's Jesus that's important.
I think your child will feel completely left out when all the kids are talking about Santa, and the Easter Bunny, and what they're gonna be this Halloween.
As long as you child realizes the important stuff, believing in Santa, and Easter Bunny is fine. And dressing up for Halloween is fine too. it's fun trick-or-treating.
Hope this helps.

From,
Kymee (catlover_569)

Answer 7

Do you mean no gifts on Christmas either? Yeah, while all their friends are bragging about what they got for Christmas your little one will be an outcast by no fault of her own, There's nothing wrong with teaching them the true meaning of Christmas while giving them a few gifts too, then they fit in and don't feel left out, that doesn't mean you have to go in debt or be extravagant. Halloween has absolutely nothing to do with the devil! Do some research! What you are talking about is making your poor child different from 99% of her playmates and classmates, unfourtunately fitting in with their peers is so very important to children, you risk making her a total outcast. It may not be fair or right, but children don't understand, they just latch on to someone different and make their lives a living hell. Be really careful with your choices, you can teach your child the true meanings of these days without completely succuming to the comercialism, and still give them enough in common with the other children they don't feel left out. I'm sorry but I truly believe what you are talking about may very well damage your child, other children can be very cruel!

Answer 8

"Santa Claus" was a real Christian saint who gave to the poor and died for his faith. Tell you daughter about the real man if you want, and say rest is to honor him.
I think you know about easter - let her eat a little chocolate and hunt for a few eggs! Why rob her of that pleasure. Hunt a few eggs and then go to church, what's the big deal?
Halloween is based on "All Hallows Eve" which is an old Christian holiday. It's not Satan's day in any way shape or form. The idea is to scare evil spirits AWAY!!! Dress her up as a cowgirl for cripes sake!
I feel sorry for a child who can't enjoy simple joys of childhood because of their parent's fanaticism. Lighten up a little. Sorry.

Answer 9

No, but you'll be taking a lot of the fun out of her life, and she might feel very sad and left out around the holidays. It is possible to be true to your faith and let your child have fun with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and dressing up on Halloween.

(By the by, Halloween has nothing to do with your Christian devil. It was originally a Pagan celebration honoring the dead.)

Answer 10

Santa Claus is in no way connected with the true meaning of Christmas. You can do Santa Claus and still teach your child the true meaning of the season. Letting her have the Santa Claus tradition won't make you any less of a Christian anymore than eating turkey for Thanksgiving makes you a Anglo-Saxon pilgrim. You just don't have to put the focus on it. The same goes for the other holidays.

It's certainly your right to raise your child as you see fit though, however, as she grows older, she may become very curious and interested in these shunned traditions (think forbidden fruit) or she'll find herself being left out of a lot of holiday festivities at school and in the neighborhood.