Believing in Santa

[Praeteridiot]

I'm curious; when did other people stop believing in Santa?  The reason I ask is because I have an acquaintance who says her 15-year-old son still firmly believes?!?!?!  Her explanation for this is that her son has Asperger's Syndrome.  However, I looked that up, and its description says "It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development. "  So even if the mother is going to great lengths to keep the lie going in her household, I'm baffled as to how any 15-year-old with access to the Internet, cable TV, Netflix, etc. could possibly have failed to stumble across the fact that Santa's just a guy in a fake beard doing a seasonal job.

I don't recall ever actually doing so, just simply being aware that people made a big deal out of 'im but that it wasn't something I was supposed to think about.  I still have yet to grasp why it/he comes off as such a big deal to so many people who don't believe in him.  A god who can be killed?  idunno.

I don't see the point of a mother of a child with Aspergers "going to great lengths to keep a lie" if she's got the fact that he's Aspie to deal with.  It would seem to me that she doesn't care to pull those teeth out when she may have bigger problems/tougher issues to handle.  And I think that's entirely her call.

[Pat K]

Well you asked for it.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[Friday]

I don't see the point of a mother of a child with Aspergers "going to great lengths to keep a lie" if she's got the fact that he's Aspie to deal with.  It would seem to me that she doesn't care to pull those teeth out when she may have bigger problems/tougher issues to handle.  And I think that's entirely her call.

Well, I entirely disagree.  I think her child should be taken away from her and put into protective custody, and sat down and told in no uncertain terms that there is no Santa.   
/sarcasm

Of course it's her call.  Doesn't mean I can't have an opinion on it. 

[Friday]

Tom, how old is the President?

8

I'm sure it would be different if he was in school. Instead he can spend all day dressed like Harry Potter, or in a loin cloth... 

I'm jealous!   

[K. Darien Freeheart]

I'm jealous!

I'm sure you could pull off the loin cloth thing at least ONCE at work.

[Friday]

The Kinks - Father Christmas 

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[KBCraig]

I'm jealous!

I'm sure you could pull off the loin cloth thing at least ONCE at work.

"...pull off the loin cloth..." Heh. 

[Russell Kanning]

i can't think of a time when us kids thought that santa was real
we got presents on Christmas Eve and knew where they came from .... we went shopping with them after all or gave them to each other
i have always enjoyed santa stories and movies, but they were not real people
my kids had the same experience .... my son jesse one time was thinking there might be a santa, since he couldn't figure out where i had hid the bikes before christmas morning (they were in the pool shed)

my favorite santa is tim allen, since they explained the physics

[Pat K]

Ah the old bike in the pool shed trick.

[rmodel65]

a good friend of mine has a son with Asperger's Syndrome he is 13 he doesnt believe in Santa...

although he does know St Nickolas did exist and is the patron saint of children....

[thinkliberty]

and is the patron saint of children....

Just like Michael Jackson!

[tito887]

I was told by a liberal at work that it was ignorant to take away a child's "wonderment," of the world by not telling (lying) about Santa. It's not a lie. It's just part of our culture. It's part of growing up didn't you know. 

[Friday]

Apparently skepticism runs in my family.   

Comment by my 7-year-old niece to my sister-in-law:  "Mom, I am writing a letter to ask Santa for his autograph, I want Uncle Jim (who works with DNA) to look at his DNA and tell me if it is really Santa's DNA or yours."   

[lildog]

This very issue was the topic of one of my recent articles:
http://www.nhinsider.com/richard-barnes/2009/12/21/is-santa-claus-real.html

While Santa Claus may not actually fly from town to town, Sinterklaas which is the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas was a real person and much of the "myth" comes from reality.  As long as children wake up on Christmas morning and find gifts waiting for them attributed to "Santa Claus" he is still very much alive and well.

I have two kids who are bouncing off the walls today waiting for Santa.  I've worked volunteering making phone calls to children as Santa.  As long as they believe they are getting gifts from Santa or speaking to Santa, they were.  I wasn't Rick, I was Santa and there's nothing wrong with believing no matter how old you are.

[Keyser Soce]

The capacity of humans at any age to delude themselves doesn't shock me anymore.

I agree.

there's nothing wrong with believing no matter how old you are.

I disagree.

In that vein I've decided that if I'm around next Christmas, I'll apply for one of those mall santa jobs. If I get the job, maybe on black friday or whenever the line is really long, I'll stand up, rip off the costume, and announce on a megaphone that there is no santa.

Or... is that too radical for the radicals? Can you imagine people getting that upset over having their kids hear the truth? I guess I should have website set up to make $$ per click on the video. It should go viral with several million hits especially if one of the parents decide to violently defend the lie.

Thoughts?