Teaching the Easter Bunny, etc. as fact....

I can't answer as I was not a believer when my son was little. So we did Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, tooth fairy (in fact, I told my son there were real fairies and taught him to "see" them), and the whole works!

If I had been a believer, I probably would have done an easter egg hunt but not told him that the bunny hid the eggs.

 

I find that I can celebrate nearly every holiday (Harvest Day instead of Halloween) and can enjoy them without contributing to the dillusion of my children. My kids have pictures taken with Santa nearly every year (though my 11 yr old had to be 'bribed' last year ). They have always seen Santa has a man in a costume just as a clown or whatever. As long as they understand that the holidays are celebrated for certain reasons which don't involve Santa or Easter Bunny or whatever.

 

Santa Clause has never been a part of our family. To be honest, my kids have never been interested in him at all. Their favorite part of Christmas is acting out the Christmas story as a family.

We let Easter be about the Lord's death and resurrection. We always make Resurrection Cookies on Saturday evening and read correlating verses each day of Passion Week.

We celebrate the first day of spring with baskets, candy and colored eggs, but no Easter Bunny. It isn't always on the first day of spring---just a day in March or April that works out. Usually around April 1. It will be later this year as I am waiting for Easter candy to go on sale!

We make a big deal out of Thanksgiving and just forget about Halloween. We have a HUGE Back-To-School-Bash in September. Even though we homeschool throughout much of the summer, we still have our bash and have a treasure hunt with new school supplies and a few gifts at the end of the hunt. We also have a big bonfire etc... This helps replace Halloween too.

My kids don't even know they are missing anything.

The tooth fairy does come to our house but the kids all know it is really mom.

I grew up believing in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. When I did learn the truth I never ever thought of it as my parents lying to me. It was just all in fun.

We don't want those things to replace the true meaning of these holidays--that is why we choose to leave them out of the way we celebrate.

 

Fairy tales all and my children know it.

Of course now they are old enough to appreciate the True story, so they have left behind the fairy tale in favor of the REAL THING!

Now when my children were very young, we did the Easter bunny and Santa and everything else. It was fiction and we always treated it as just a fun game and never treated it as the Truth. However some worldly traditions do correlate to the truth. Easter eggs represent the New Life we gain when we accept Jesus. Santa and his presents represents God giving us His Son, the best gift of all. Even Halloween can represent the change from bad (separated from God) to good (saved and now in fellowship) if you present it the correct way.

Nothing wrong with fiction, nothing wrong with using fiction to help the kids to understand the power and omnipotence of our God or the wonder of the Gift He gave. Those who worry about the pagan roots of our fiction need to remember this verse: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy---think about such things. Phillipian 4:8

In other words quit looking for trouble and you'll quit finding it!

 

I tell my kids it's a game we play, but it's not what Easter is about.

 

It seems I must have learned at an early age that fantasies and cartoons and the funny papaer are not real, while my mom, dad, grandpa, and Walter Cronkite are. It seems kids can have as much fun just playing with an idea, as with really believing it. But if "seeing is believing," sometimes that can present problems, too. I didn't believe in Santa Claus, didn't believe in the Easter Bunny, didn't believe in the Tooth Fairy... heck, I didn't even believe in the milk man till I actually saw him!

 

Santa Claus is based off a real person, but I would not teach that there is a six foot bunny that lays eggs, and a six inch woman who gives you money when your teeth fall out.

 

Dntccc

How do you read them fictional childrens stories how do you encourage their imagination. AND what do you tell them when they ask where babies come from.

Dont you tell them about Humpty Dumpty? Was their really an egg that fell off a wall, or is it all lies?

Jack and the beanstalk? (lies)
Jack and Jill? (could be a lie)
etc.

 

Some time, somewhere, there probably was an egg that fell off a wall.

 

And all the kings horses and all the kings men tried to put him together again.


This very likely could be a lie. We should at least do the research before telling this possable lie to our kids.

 

Come now, DeeJay,

reading fictional stories which are obviously just imaginary is very different than a child's parents TELLING them that there's a big Easter bunny that hides eggs for them once a year. And there's nothing wrong with avoiding this. I don't think it deserves to be mocked at. Contrary to what some believe, "depriving" your kids of the Easter bunny and Santa Claus does not stunt their imagination. Kids have wonderful imaginations that they are born with, and they frankly don't need US to make up stories for them....lol....they do that very well all by themselves. They'll get along just fine, and trust their parents besides.

As to what do you tell your kids when they ask where babies come from......are you suggesting telling them the stork brings them? A parent can tell them the truth without telling them the ENTIRE truth all at once. "God sends them" is a great answer for really little ones, and then go on from there as they get older. Kids are really quite resilient and they can even handle hearing "You're too young to know right now, ask me when you're older."

 

bapmom,
Good points. Sounds like you handle things in a balanced manner.
But many of us, me included, were told by our parents that there was a tooth fairy and an Easter bunny.
It did not lead to me not trusting my parents.
I still think it was fun.
I am not aware of actually meeting a person who had a problem with trusting his parents when he found the Easter bunny was pretend.
It seems like it is something people worry about but maybe doesn't really happen nearly as much as we think.

Karen

 

Ok, I was having fun with the idea that kids will be damaged for life if we tell them about santa.

Bapmom, I never said there is anything wrong with avoiding these things. But like Karen above I think there is also nothing wrong with useing these stories as a fictional way.

Now if we are replacing Christmas with santa then I see the problem and frankly MOST people do this. But then most people are not Christans. I find that my child can know why we celebrate Christmas and Easter and also enjoy fictional stories just like she enjoys stories about jack and the bean stalk. My child thinks it is pretty neet that the bunnie comes on the day that Jesus "came back alive" and we tell her santa gives gifts because it is Jesus' birthday and Jesus wants us to give to each other.

My kid wanted to know how the baby got in there? How it was coming out? Where it was coming out from? Why it was in there? And why mom ate a baby?

I used a combo of avoidence of the question, half truths and also used the "God put him in there". But they dident satifie curiosity. Well she will just have to remain curious of somethings. Cause I avoided questions like a champ.

 

I see DeeJay,

I remember when our 6 year old asked those exact same questions, and I did my share of evading as well!

lol

 

We reared our kids pretty much as Samarelda described. I was reared pagan and believed in Santa, but there was no trauma when I came to realize I'd been "had."

I banned Santa from my own home not in order to make my kids better, but to avoid blasphemy. Praying to an omniscient saint who has the power to curse or bless on judgment day according to your works just doesn't seem like a Christ-honoring way to celebrate the nativity.

All the fertility cult apparatus that goes with Easter was likewise banned. The TV too, for that matter.

We survived. Two of my kids are in missions, one teaches at a Christian school in America.

I deal blackjack at a casino; but, hey, you can't bat a thousand.

 

I do not go out of my way to tell my kids that there is not really 3 pigs and a big bad wolf. I dont go out of my way to tell them it is true. I do however tell them the story of Jesus' birth and tell them this really happened.

Anyway the reason I bring this back to the top.

On Saturday we were in the mall for some shoping. My kid (4 year old) seen the bunny and wanted to sit on its lap. She had a good time, cute pictures. When we were leaving she said "Dad, I saw a person in that bunny. I saw eyes in its mouth" I asked her, oh yea what do you think about that? She said " I think that is the person who plays the Easter bunny." I told her your probably right. She knows, but she wants to play along.

 

Eew! "Eyes in it's mouth"!

That is not a pretty picture!