How many of you grew up with Santa?

Question

Did your parents make Santa a part of Christmas in your house or did you grow up thinking of only the birth of Christ? I was the latter ... I liked it but I am just curious as to how many people really grow up believing in Santa.

Answer 1

I was always taught that Jesus was the reason for the season. But, my dad used to dress up as santa and show up on Christmas Eve. But now that they have divorced, I play Santa every year for my younger brother and sisters. :)

Answer 2

I grew up with Santa... now Santa is my husband. I was fun and harmless.

Numerous parallels have been drawn between Santa Claus and the figure of Odin, a major god amongst the Germanic Peoples prior to their Christianization. Since many of these elements are unrelated to Christianity, there are theories regarding the pagan origins of various customs of the holiday stemming from areas where the Germanic peoples were Christianized and retained elements of their indigenous traditions, surviving in various forms into modern depictions of Santa Claus.

Odin was sometimes recorded, at the native Germanic holiday of Yule, as leading a great hunting party through the sky. Two books from Iceland, the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, describe Odin as riding an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir that could leap great distances, giving rise to comparisons to Santa Claus's reindeer.

According to Phyllis Siefker, children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy. This practice survived in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands after the adoption of Christianity and became associated with Saint Nicholas as a result of the process of Christianization and can be still seen in the modern practice of the hanging of stockings at the chimney in some homes.

This practice in turn came to the United States through the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam prior to the British seizure in the 17th century, and evolved into the hanging of socks or stockings at the fireplace. In many regions of Austria and former Austro-Hungarian Italy (Friuli, city of Trieste) children are given sweets and gifts on Saint Nicholas's Day (San Niccolò in Italian), in accordance with the Catholic calendar, December the 6th.

Numerous other influences from the pre-Christian Germanic winter celebrations have continued into modern Christmas celebrations such as the Christmas ham, Yule Goat, Yule logs and the Christmas tree.

Answer 3

I grew up believing in Santa and the Three Kings (Wise Men).

Answer 4

We never believed in Santa because our dad took us Christmas shopping with him and we picked out all of our own toys.

Answer 5

We did back in the 50s and 60s.

Answer 6

Santa.

Christmas was a pagan holiday celebrating the winter solstice long before jesus was even made up.
Its pretty funny when religious people talk about it as jesus's birthday when in roman times they switched it so people could convert to Christianity easier lol
bunch of brainwashed retards imo.

Answer 7

i BELIEVE IN BOTH!