When my daughter was about 3 years old, she asked me if santa was real....I told her yes, but, I explained that I am Santa for her and each parent/guardian is Santa for every other child. My reason for this was that I wanted her to be clear that if, for any reason, I am ever unable to get what she wanted for Christmas, that it was NOT because she was a bad child! I wanted my daughter to understand that sometimes parents are unable to afford things on a child's Christmas list. I have always been honest with her so that she wouldn't be disappointed in the future.
I’ve told my son, when he was “old enough” that Santa was the spirit of Christmas, and it can live in all of us, and involves giving to others for the pure joy of seeing others happy. He actually dressed as Santa for Halloween one year and wanted to go around with a bag of candy to give out to others. He got in to the Christmas spirit early! Now he’s a teenager and wants a PS5. “Santa can’t afford to get you a PS5 - get off the couch and get a job.” 😅
I'm with Dulce. I also find it infuriating when parents give their kids large gifts "from Santa". Then the kids run to school and tell others. And the kids who aren't from rich families think they are inherently worse, because Santa didn't think they were worthy of a new iPhone like the rich kids who must be "nice" while all the kids from not-rich families are "naughty". If we hope to build a classist society, let Santa lead the way.
When my son was young, I’d put gifts in his stocking, open the fireplace doors, and leave 3 wrapped gifts from Santa - lego sets, or even stuff I said I wouldn’t buy for him, but nothing too expensive. If he got a big gift like a bike or something I’d spent half the night building, the person who gave him that gift got the credit so he knew who to actually thank. As an adult, Santa buys me some really nice things! My wife will ask “who gave you that new ipad?” “It’s from Santa!” Hahaha
On the other hand, it feels very Christian to tell kids there is at least one person in the world who cares about you. The problem is trying to show the evidence of that in material goods.
Ofc a lot of Christmas and Easter stuff doesn't make sense, it's just Christians appropriating and rebranding pagan holidays. Easter is the festival of Eostre, goddess of fertility and spring, and the bunny is a fertility symbol. Christmas is not Jesus's birthday, it's a rebranding of the pagan Saturnalia festival and other solstice celebrations. Santa is based on a variety of pagan characters.
As an Atheist, I will say I'm celebrating what I consider as "Secular Christmas", which are all the things about Christmas that are not explicitly about Jesus (i.e, all the commercialization stuff). We do the lights, tree, gift-giving, Christmas dinner. But none of the nativity stuff, acknowledging the birth of Jesus, nor Christmas Mass. I had to explain this to my Christian friends in college before, and they were as confused as Dulce and Josh here...
Most Christians don't know Jesus was most likely born in the fall. They also don't know the date of celebrating his birth was pushed onto a holiday that ALREADY EXISTED, the pagan celebration of winter solstice. That's why they can't handle the idea that other people celebrate the winter but don't care about Jesus being born. (Not to mention the trees and gift-giving are literally the pagan celebrations that Christians, again, took over.)
The more important points (for me) to teach my kids was that Christmas was almost entirely stolen from Pagans. From the ornamental tree down to the time of year that it was celebrated.
My big brother told me Santa wasn’t real when I was three. He went ahead and also told me the Easter bunny didn’t exist, and threw in the tooth fairy for the added “trauma” lol. I ran to mom in an excited but horrified manner, and she had to tell me the truth. However, I chose to “believe” in Santa my entire life anyway, for the whimsy of it all ❤ Merry Holidays everyone 😊
Yeah, my older brother told my little brother and me when we were 4 and 5 respectively. I think I kinda already knew, because I don't remember being surprised, but he told us to play along with mom and dad so they wouldn't get their feelings hurt. Lol. He also outed the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy to us. Big brothers! X) Happy Holidays! :)
My parents told me the truth from day 1, and I am so thankful they did. It helped me see through a lot of the BS from grown ups, and taught me to think before I believe what people say. It was more fun to know it was all about presents, and watching all the other kids in my class run around like a bunch of idiots yelling "AAAAH, IT'S SANTA!!!!"
My house had a guard dog that would bark if you walked near the driveway. I knew there was no Santa coming to my chimney-less house. He would have been mauled to death. 🤣🤣🤣 A man came to my school as Santa when I was younger and I assumed he was my Papa dressing up for the other kids. I kept calling him Papa while the other kids were saying Santa. It is hilarious to me now that as an adult I love Santa movies. But never sat on any laps tho. "Young ladies do not sit in grown man laps" is how I was raised.
I became a Buddhist in 06. I was raised in church, but I celebrate the gift giving and togetherness with the family. And yeah I also made baskets, I don't want my kid to feel slighted seeing her cousins get gifts
Josh has the sexiest voice in the universe 🔥🔥, have mercy! I love these sparring sessions. Dulce is so funny. You both have perfect comedic timing. Thanks to you both for making the world a happier place.
Don't think there's anything wrong with giving kids a sense of fantasy and wonder when they are little. We grew up with both Santa and religious Christmas traditions. By the time kids were 10, most knew the truth. After that, we found joy in playing Santa for others - donating presents or food, and giving mystery gifts to others. It is part of the spirit of the season for kids and the young at heart.
You two made me laugh out loud so many times!! Thank you for this delightful episode. I grew up not believing in Santa, but feeling free to pretend about him and enjoy a normal guy in a Santa suit. It worked well for my household because we didn't get what we wanted for Christmas, and that would have been hard to take if it seemed to be because of a judgment of my behavior.
1) I got both nostrils and my septum pierced in a sitting and the technician gave me a "what a trooper" at the end. It made me feel so strong and proud of myself ☺️. 2) My family already didn't celebrate Christmas so my siblings and I started from a place of knowing Santa was a fairytale. We didn't live in a home that fit the story anyway and my mom didn't have much money. My sister and I always got a gift to share. If we were to believe in Santa then what are we supposed to think about ourselves vs. the kids that got tons of presents every year? Was my mom supposed to contrive some nonsense to make it make sense? Now with my own child; her father's side are Santa people so I just let it be until my daughter asked me directly if he was real. I think she was 9 or 10 and I just told her the truth. She went, "I KNEW IT!!" 🤣🤣 She also informed me that, in comparison to the stories she finds in anime, webtoons, video games, etc., Santa is boring. Each family has the right to do as they please. In my house we don't really care about Santa. That man is not the sole source of innocence and imagination. I was given plenty of room for make believe that didn't involve me feeling judged due to my mother not having much money.
I've always told my daughter it was a scam, the gifts came from me. As she was dead sure I'm the cheapest person since Scrooge, she didn't believe a word of it. Sinterklaas was *her* hero until she was eleven years old.
... St Nicholas was Greek. So not white. And more importantly his relevance to Christmas other than him being a Saint, is that Christmas is a season of giving, looking out for others etc and St Nicholas did that all through his life. It's why he became a saint.
My sister and I still talk about Christmas when we were kids. How fun it was. The Christmas tree decorations and Christmas pagents we were in. And trying to figure out if Santa is real or not and where did Santa hid the present. It was so fun and beautiful! We went to a Catholic School and Church so we learned about the birth of Our Lord and the celebration. Yes I passed down Santa Claus from my childhood to my kids and grandkids. It was innocent time, fun times. And I wouldn't take that happy times away from them for nothing.
I grew up in a South African Indian family, we’re Hindu but we celebrate Christmas. We just do the get togethers, gifts, and the tree - I didn’t know it was a Christian holiday until I got older
I’m with Dulce… no need to gaslight children and train them on magical thinking. Like it’s cute and nice stories, but lying to your children about that is totally nuts.
My dad loves Christmas. He loves decorating, playing Christmas music, buying gifts, all of it. He even signed all of our gifts "From Santa". When I was 5-years-old, I saw my dad putting my bike together and realized Santa wasn't real. I kept the secret from my younger sisters, and continued to pretend I believed. My dad still signs our gifts "From Santa", and we're all grown. When I had my daughter, I decided to tell her the truth about Santa. But I told her to keep it a secret, so she wouldn't spoil my dad's delight or ruin the holiday for her peers. To my knowledge, she never said anything.
Thinking back I found my parents way of handling Santa to be very damaging. When we doubted Santa, they'd threaten to take away our gifts. Side note: there are Muslims and Buddhists who celebrate Christmas. It's religious, but there is a lot of co-opted secular and original pagan traditions around it, too.
I was seriously scarred when I learned that my mom had been lying to me about Santa for years. What else was she lying about? Honestly, I don’t think I ever fully trusted her again. AND, I went through a phase of thinking it was okay for me to lie since everyone else clearly was doing it all the time. When my kids asked me, I told them Saint Nicholas was a real person who gave children gifts, so we continue to honor his memory with the idea of “Santa”.
I know people are serious when they say that, but I always find it weird that Santa Claus is when they first realized parents lie. I knew my parents would lie to make me smile as a toddler when they'd play "I got your nose" with me and other silly games. They'd lie about what song lyrics meant and what people had said to protect my siblings and me from the truth. I thought it was pretty obvious that all parents lie, a lot, about tons of things, long before I found out the truth about Santa when I was 5, but they do it for their kid's happiness, so I learned to listen to their intentions rather than their words. I think it was a useful lesson that's served me well in my life. I grew up expecting people to lie, but the reason why they lie is the important part. That is a nice way to approach the topic, though. If you were that trusting, your kids probably are too, so that way they won't get hurt like you did. You must have been a very sweet child.
I grew up not believing in Santa due to my family being a part of a particular Christian denomination that didn’t celebrate Christmas and Easter as they were considered “pagan holidays”. I remember getting in trouble at school because I was repeating the rhetoric from that church about Christmas and Santa. I didn’t understand why I got in trouble until I got older. My childhood was still “full of wonder” as my brothers and I had active imaginations and were a part of the “raised by tv” generation. I am agnostic now, and I am actually glad I wasn’t raised believing in Santa. But I now understand how important it is for some people to want their kids to believe in Santa.
I always wanted to be truthful with my children. I was a truth-monger!!! Now (at 75yrs old) I know that children grow into reality and allowing them (and, “us”) to enjoy those few years of fantasy WILL NOT HURT THEM.
My mom insists that she has never once lied to me. She never told me explicitly that Santa was real, but once I went to school and heard other kids talking about Santa, my mom started thinking of ways to not have me feel left out while also not lying to me. She never said the gifts were from Santa and never signed the presents. She just always put one gift to the side, and if I believed it was from Santa that was on me.
Nah! C'mon, that Atheist had a point. I'm in Kenya and we celebrated Christmas very differently growing up to how Americans do. America has its own version of Christmas, which I gotta admit, has slowly been sent round the world. Christmas is synonymous with modern Santa Claus who is not religious at allllll, and all religions will take their kids to sit on Santas lap.
My friends son told children at school Santa isn't real. That upset the other kids and they actually questioned my friend's choice. When they talked to him he said "I don't lie to my kids."
I know someone whose brother-in-law said the same thing. "I don't lie to my kids". When his kid was trying to tell my relative's son that the elf on the shelf is not real. We all knew what was coming next. However, that same man and his wife have been legally divorced for 3 years and just living in the same house because they don't want to hurt their children. 🤷🏻♀️
@@LindaC616 So many people can't think of a way to make sure their children are happy. You have to do whatever you can. A woman in the UK has been to the hospital twice because she ate less you feed her two kids. That broke my heart to hear that.
I don't think there's anything wrong with allowing kids to have some magic in their lives. People who choose to tell their kids that X tradition isn't real should hammer in that some of their friends probably still believe and that it's really impolite and mean to bring up. Maybe your friend's kid wasn't actually mature enough to handle the answer. No, you don't have to "lie" to your kids, but how you answer really should take into consideration how socially, emotionally, and cognitively mature a kid is.
I always signed my to-from tags as Santa Helpers. So the kids learn that I’m Santa’s Helper. I like giving gifts because they represent the gift of love from Christ. And I love the Christmas tree because of the pretty bright lights it brings to a dark space. Christmas is a season of love for me. I enjoyed this different way of looking at this thru someone else insight and experience. I never believed in the reindeer flying. Merry Christmas to all because I’m all over the place with my thoughts now. A mix bag of everything. Again Merry Christmas.
I tell my kids that I bought their toys and Santa isn't welcome in our home. I took them with me to get the toys this year. We still wrapped them but they know where the toys came from and that Mommy bought them. I didn't tell them anything additional about Santa so they won't spoil it for their classmates.
My parents told me Santa brought gifts and my grandparents said it was El Niño Jesús/ Niño Dios (the Baby Jesus). So in my little 5 year old mind I combined the two. Baby Jesus on Santa's lap and both on the sled 😄
This question is easy for me... When my daughter was little, I told her the truth and that the Spirit of Xmas should be all year long not just one season or just a day. Kinda easy though for me when we celebrate Yule and not xmas.
I did what Josh suggested, but I did it because I didn't want my son comparing gifts from Santa with his friends and some kids leaving like why didn't Santa get me a big gift? So Santa got him the meh gift, but the big gifts came from Mom and Dad. When he asked if Santa was real, we'd ask if he still wanted gifts from Santa. There were a couple years where we all knew it was a lie and giggled over it. Just an excuse to give presents!
Christmas has become a mostly secular and commercial celebration. It always incorporated pagan traditions anyway so I don't really understand the frustration behind people choosing not to make Christianity the focus of their celebrations. I guess Dulce was at a very close friend's house otherwise, it's pretty rude to go to someone's home and complain about the way they choose to celebrate a holiday.
I made up my mind as to how to tell my kids about Santa. As a reader, when the questions came up, I gave them the truth about the legend. It was fun showing them how to look up the info for themselves.
I told my son at 6yo that Santa wasn’t real but it is a fun thing to do and we all play the game because it is fun. One of the parents was upset that her child was questioning the Santa story. I responded, Truth is always the most important.
Is it though? 6 is pretty young and I can understand the other parent being upset. Everyone is different, but the real world is rough. What's wrong with kids believing in a bit of magic?
Yes Dulcé atheism is all about telling everyone about the teachings from our great atheist book and going to an atheist building and other countries to convert the locals to our atheism, it's absolutely our whole personality. Seriously though Merry Christmas from an atheist.
I think that it's ok to tell them that he was a person, but it's a child's caregiver that is acting like Santa now. Whatever the reason they do it. Because not all caregivers have the same financial resources. So one child gets the latest tech, and another child gets dollar store special, it's not that Santa doesn't like you
She really not even gonna acknowledge that it's definitely becoming, if not mostly already, a more commercialized/secular holiday? 🙄 living in some delusion
I feel Christmas is a religious holiday but at the same time it isn't at this point. It's more about Santa and buying things. It's like Thanksgiving is more about eating a lot of food then giving thanks. Just the impression that I have gotten.
I worked with many people of different religions and from many different countries. Quite a few celebrated Xmas as a nonreligious holiday. I was told by many of my coworkers that they gave in to Xmas because of the commercialization and they just joined in.
On athiesm, but there's a ton of athiests who you don't even know are athiests because they don't say it. So....no, not all athiests talk about being athiest. You know?
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that there's a topic and maybe 15 mins is spent on just that - the conversation always takes a hard right, then self corrects :D :D :D
I can see both points. And love the healthy debate! I personally did not tell my son Santa was real. I did tell him there was a man who lived a long time ago named Saint Nicholas who was generous and gave gifts. So my son knew who Santa was based on. I did not feel right telling my son that Santa was real and then someday he would learn Santa was not real. I did tell my son that some of his friends believed Santa was real and not to tell them Santa was not real. I wanted to respect other parents' choices even if I did not agree with their choices. Plus I did not want my son getting into an argument with his friends over what his friends' parents had told them.
As an Atheist, I agree that Christmas today is about appreciation for who and what we have, enjoying the season, and looking forward to spring. It was about similar ideas (plus week-long partying and mischief) for at least a century until, in the spirit of the usual cultural control and manipulation, Emperor Constantine inserted Christian characters into Saturnalia customs and over the course of a decade, turned it into a Christian day.
Listening to the podcast and came here to answer your question about where the Easter bunny comes from, and that would again be from the Pagans (you're welcome!) The celebration of Ostara happens at that time (also, Easter is always on the Sunday after a full moon and that's pretty dang pagan-y too I think lol) and it is a fertility (spring time) holiday. Life returning to the earth after a long winter. That's where the eggs and bunnies come from, they're fertility symbols :)
I was never told Santa was real. And I was always worried about the children whose parents couldn’t afford presents, I didn’t want them to think that they must be bad kids.
I firmly believe that children need to believe in things that can't be seen. Santa represents, hope, love, kindness. I think we do them a favor to believe in those things.
When my daughter was about 3 years old, she asked me if santa was real....I told her yes, but, I explained that I am Santa for her and each parent/guardian is Santa for every other child. My reason for this was that I wanted her to be clear that if, for any reason, I am ever unable to get what she wanted for Christmas, that it was NOT because she was a bad child! I wanted my daughter to understand that sometimes parents are unable to afford things on a child's Christmas list. I have always been honest with her so that she wouldn't be disappointed in the future.
Oh I do love 💕 that.
I’ve told my son, when he was “old enough” that Santa was the spirit of Christmas, and it can live in all of us, and involves giving to others for the pure joy of seeing others happy. He actually dressed as Santa for Halloween one year and wanted to go around with a bag of candy to give out to others. He got in to the Christmas spirit early! Now he’s a teenager and wants a PS5. “Santa can’t afford to get you a PS5 - get off the couch and get a job.” 😅
@@stephen3164 😆 Hilarious!
@@stephen3164 That's sweet....lol @ the PS5 reply though!
Nailed it. Absolutely.
Josh has such a soothing voice 😭😭 he could really voiceover guided imagery for meditations
Lots of meditations! Long meditations! Grinding meditations!
I think I have to agree. Talk or read to me.
I am an insomniac and have earbuds basically installed in my ears.
Tell them the truth, there are enough liars in this world my kids should know they can always get truth from us.
Exactly 💯!!
This is my philosophy.
I absolutely love when Josh goes motivational speaker 🤣🤣🤣
He is on that GRIND
I love the contrast between Dulce's full belly laugh and Josh's quiet chuckle. They really compliment each other ❤️
I'm with Dulce. I also find it infuriating when parents give their kids large gifts "from Santa". Then the kids run to school and tell others. And the kids who aren't from rich families think they are inherently worse, because Santa didn't think they were worthy of a new iPhone like the rich kids who must be "nice" while all the kids from not-rich families are "naughty". If we hope to build a classist society, let Santa lead the way.
When my son was young, I’d put gifts in his stocking, open the fireplace doors, and leave 3 wrapped gifts from Santa - lego sets, or even stuff I said I wouldn’t buy for him, but nothing too expensive. If he got a big gift like a bike or something I’d spent half the night building, the person who gave him that gift got the credit so he knew who to actually thank.
As an adult, Santa buys me some really nice things! My wife will ask “who gave you that new ipad?” “It’s from Santa!” Hahaha
On the other hand, it feels very Christian to tell kids there is at least one person in the world who cares about you. The problem is trying to show the evidence of that in material goods.
The MINUTE Josh said, "Wake up" I knew "the grind" was coming back. Love listening to these 2.
These conversations about nothing... give me everything... LIFE. I love it.
Ofc a lot of Christmas and Easter stuff doesn't make sense, it's just Christians appropriating and rebranding pagan holidays. Easter is the festival of Eostre, goddess of fertility and spring, and the bunny is a fertility symbol. Christmas is not Jesus's birthday, it's a rebranding of the pagan Saturnalia festival and other solstice celebrations. Santa is based on a variety of pagan characters.
As an Atheist, I will say I'm celebrating what I consider as "Secular Christmas", which are all the things about Christmas that are not explicitly about Jesus (i.e, all the commercialization stuff).
We do the lights, tree, gift-giving, Christmas dinner. But none of the nativity stuff, acknowledging the birth of Jesus, nor Christmas Mass.
I had to explain this to my Christian friends in college before, and they were as confused as Dulce and Josh here...
Most Christians don't know Jesus was most likely born in the fall. They also don't know the date of celebrating his birth was pushed onto a holiday that ALREADY EXISTED, the pagan celebration of winter solstice. That's why they can't handle the idea that other people celebrate the winter but don't care about Jesus being born. (Not to mention the trees and gift-giving are literally the pagan celebrations that Christians, again, took over.)
I don't lie to my kids. I also don't tell them the whole truth until they ask. Kids need to trust their parents and have space to pretend.
That's a decent medium, but so often, other people's kids like to rob them of that wonder
The more important points (for me) to teach my kids was that Christmas was almost entirely stolen from Pagans. From the ornamental tree down to the time of year that it was celebrated.
My big brother told me Santa wasn’t real when I was three. He went ahead and also told me the Easter bunny didn’t exist, and threw in the tooth fairy for the added “trauma” lol. I ran to mom in an excited but horrified manner, and she had to tell me the truth. However, I chose to “believe” in Santa my entire life anyway, for the whimsy of it all ❤ Merry Holidays everyone 😊
Merry Christmas
Yeah, my older brother told my little brother and me when we were 4 and 5 respectively. I think I kinda already knew, because I don't remember being surprised, but he told us to play along with mom and dad so they wouldn't get their feelings hurt. Lol. He also outed the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy to us. Big brothers! X) Happy Holidays! :)
Y’all just stuck in the Matrix
"But what is....and old child? Do you mean, an adult?" HAHAHAHA I love these two
This year, my daughter declined sitting on Santa's lap. I was so proud 👏 👏👏
My parents told me the truth from day 1, and I am so thankful they did.
It helped me see through a lot of the BS from grown ups, and taught me to think before I believe what people say.
It was more fun to know it was all about presents, and watching all the other kids in my class run around like a bunch of idiots yelling "AAAAH, IT'S SANTA!!!!"
Best comment 🤌🏼
My house had a guard dog that would bark if you walked near the driveway. I knew there was no Santa coming to my chimney-less house. He would have been mauled to death. 🤣🤣🤣 A man came to my school as Santa when I was younger and I assumed he was my Papa dressing up for the other kids. I kept calling him Papa while the other kids were saying Santa. It is hilarious to me now that as an adult I love Santa movies. But never sat on any laps tho. "Young ladies do not sit in grown man laps" is how I was raised.
I became a Buddhist in 06. I was raised in church, but I celebrate the gift giving and togetherness with the family. And yeah I also made baskets, I don't want my kid to feel slighted seeing her cousins get gifts
Josh has the sexiest voice in the universe 🔥🔥, have mercy! I love these sparring sessions. Dulce is so funny. You both have perfect comedic timing. Thanks to you both for making the world a happier place.
Don't think there's anything wrong with giving kids a sense of fantasy and wonder when they are little. We grew up with both Santa and religious Christmas traditions. By the time kids were 10, most knew the truth. After that, we found joy in playing Santa for others - donating presents or food, and giving mystery gifts to others. It is part of the spirit of the season for kids and the young at heart.
I absolutely adore both of these comedians and I am so happy I found this video.
You two made me laugh out loud so many times!! Thank you for this delightful episode. I grew up not believing in Santa, but feeling free to pretend about him and enjoy a normal guy in a Santa suit. It worked well for my household because we didn't get what we wanted for Christmas, and that would have been hard to take if it seemed to be because of a judgment of my behavior.
She said an elderly white man addicted to four loco 😂
1) I got both nostrils and my septum pierced in a sitting and the technician gave me a "what a trooper" at the end. It made me feel so strong and proud of myself ☺️.
2) My family already didn't celebrate Christmas so my siblings and I started from a place of knowing Santa was a fairytale. We didn't live in a home that fit the story anyway and my mom didn't have much money. My sister and I always got a gift to share. If we were to believe in Santa then what are we supposed to think about ourselves vs. the kids that got tons of presents every year? Was my mom supposed to contrive some nonsense to make it make sense? Now with my own child; her father's side are Santa people so I just let it be until my daughter asked me directly if he was real. I think she was 9 or 10 and I just told her the truth. She went, "I KNEW IT!!" 🤣🤣 She also informed me that, in comparison to the stories she finds in anime, webtoons, video games, etc., Santa is boring. Each family has the right to do as they please. In my house we don't really care about Santa. That man is not the sole source of innocence and imagination. I was given plenty of room for make believe that didn't involve me feeling judged due to my mother not having much money.
Josh Johnson's Voice 💔💔😭
My poor heart , even though I m not Christian so i don't feel concerned but I do enjoy this podcast.
Josh Johnson is Magic ✨✨
Glad you guys are continuing this podcast
I agree with Josh, b elieving in Santa Claus is the magic of Christmas and childhood
All of these questions about Santa but Jesus is just accepted? 🤣😂🤣
I've always told my daughter it was a scam, the gifts came from me. As she was dead sure I'm the cheapest person since Scrooge, she didn't believe a word of it. Sinterklaas was *her* hero until she was eleven years old.
🤣
“A lot of those elves be looking Keebler if you look at those north pole pictures” 😂😂😂😂😂 that’s a whole start of a great comedy set Josh!
... St Nicholas was Greek. So not white. And more importantly his relevance to Christmas other than him being a Saint, is that Christmas is a season of giving, looking out for others etc and St Nicholas did that all through his life. It's why he became a saint.
My sister and I still talk about Christmas when we were kids. How fun it was. The Christmas tree decorations and Christmas pagents we were in. And trying to figure out if Santa is real or not and where did Santa hid the present. It was so fun and beautiful! We went to a Catholic School and Church so we learned about the birth of Our Lord and the celebration. Yes I passed down Santa Claus from my childhood to my kids and grandkids. It was innocent time, fun times. And I wouldn't take that happy times away from them for nothing.
Dulce with the 4 sides of the pyramid KILLED ME 🤣🤣💀
Going to go with “Santa Claus is just as real as Jesus Christ”
I grew up in a South African Indian family, we’re Hindu but we celebrate Christmas. We just do the get togethers, gifts, and the tree - I didn’t know it was a Christian holiday until I got older
I’m with Dulce… no need to gaslight children and train them on magical thinking. Like it’s cute and nice stories, but lying to your children about that is totally nuts.
My dad loves Christmas. He loves decorating, playing Christmas music, buying gifts, all of it. He even signed all of our gifts "From Santa". When I was 5-years-old, I saw my dad putting my bike together and realized Santa wasn't real. I kept the secret from my younger sisters, and continued to pretend I believed. My dad still signs our gifts "From Santa", and we're all grown.
When I had my daughter, I decided to tell her the truth about Santa. But I told her to keep it a secret, so she wouldn't spoil my dad's delight or ruin the holiday for her peers. To my knowledge, she never said anything.
Thinking back I found my parents way of handling Santa to be very damaging. When we doubted Santa, they'd threaten to take away our gifts. Side note: there are Muslims and Buddhists who celebrate Christmas. It's religious, but there is a lot of co-opted secular and original pagan traditions around it, too.
I was seriously scarred when I learned that my mom had been lying to me about Santa for years. What else was she lying about? Honestly, I don’t think I ever fully trusted her again. AND, I went through a phase of thinking it was okay for me to lie since everyone else clearly was doing it all the time.
When my kids asked me, I told them Saint Nicholas was a real person who gave children gifts, so we continue to honor his memory with the idea of “Santa”.
I know people are serious when they say that, but I always find it weird that Santa Claus is when they first realized parents lie. I knew my parents would lie to make me smile as a toddler when they'd play "I got your nose" with me and other silly games. They'd lie about what song lyrics meant and what people had said to protect my siblings and me from the truth. I thought it was pretty obvious that all parents lie, a lot, about tons of things, long before I found out the truth about Santa when I was 5, but they do it for their kid's happiness, so I learned to listen to their intentions rather than their words. I think it was a useful lesson that's served me well in my life. I grew up expecting people to lie, but the reason why they lie is the important part.
That is a nice way to approach the topic, though. If you were that trusting, your kids probably are too, so that way they won't get hurt like you did. You must have been a very sweet child.
YES!!! The girl reindeer conversation comes up! 🦌
I grew up not believing in Santa due to my family being a part of a particular Christian denomination that didn’t celebrate Christmas and Easter as they were considered “pagan holidays”. I remember getting in trouble at school because I was repeating the rhetoric from that church about Christmas and Santa. I didn’t understand why I got in trouble until I got older. My childhood was still “full of wonder” as my brothers and I had active imaginations and were a part of the “raised by tv” generation. I am agnostic now, and I am actually glad I wasn’t raised believing in Santa. But I now understand how important it is for some people to want their kids to believe in Santa.
I always wanted to be truthful with my children. I was a truth-monger!!! Now (at 75yrs old) I know that children grow into reality and allowing them (and, “us”) to enjoy those few years of fantasy WILL NOT HURT THEM.
My mom insists that she has never once lied to me. She never told me explicitly that Santa was real, but once I went to school and heard other kids talking about Santa, my mom started thinking of ways to not have me feel left out while also not lying to me. She never said the gifts were from Santa and never signed the presents. She just always put one gift to the side, and if I believed it was from Santa that was on me.
It's better to tell your kids the truth about it then to have them disappointed later on or bullied because of believing so. trust me
Other people who aren't Christian celebrate Christmas. They have kids that go to school and want presents
Nah! C'mon, that Atheist had a point. I'm in Kenya and we celebrated Christmas very differently growing up to how Americans do. America has its own version of Christmas, which I gotta admit, has slowly been sent round the world. Christmas is synonymous with modern Santa Claus who is not religious at allllll, and all religions will take their kids to sit on Santas lap.
Yeah, people from all faiths and denominations still celebrate the "Christmas" of gift-giving and Pinterest decor.
Christians literally took over pagan celebrations of winter solstice and then get mad when other people don't care about Jesus being born. Sigh.
My friends son told children at school Santa isn't real. That upset the other kids and they actually questioned my friend's choice. When they talked to him he said "I don't lie to my kids."
I know someone whose brother-in-law said the same thing. "I don't lie to my kids". When his kid was trying to tell my relative's son that the elf on the shelf is not real. We all knew what was coming next. However, that same man and his wife have been legally divorced for 3 years and just living in the same house because they don't want to hurt their children. 🤷🏻♀️
@@LindaC616 So many people can't think of a way to make sure their children are happy. You have to do whatever you can. A woman in the UK has been to the hospital twice because she ate less you feed her two kids. That broke my heart to hear that.
@dredj9112 that's really sad. I guess most people are just doing their best with what they have
I don't think there's anything wrong with allowing kids to have some magic in their lives. People who choose to tell their kids that X tradition isn't real should hammer in that some of their friends probably still believe and that it's really impolite and mean to bring up.
Maybe your friend's kid wasn't actually mature enough to handle the answer. No, you don't have to "lie" to your kids, but how you answer really should take into consideration how socially, emotionally, and cognitively mature a kid is.
I always signed my to-from tags as Santa Helpers. So the kids learn that I’m Santa’s Helper. I like giving gifts because they represent the gift of love from Christ. And I love the Christmas tree because of the pretty bright lights it brings to a dark space. Christmas is a season of love for me. I enjoyed this different way of looking at this thru someone else insight and experience. I never believed in the reindeer flying. Merry Christmas to all because I’m all over the place with my thoughts now. A mix bag of everything. Again Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
“The mob doctor is still a doctor” 😂😂😅
You guys are awesome! Absolutely love it. Thank you
She has a great point of who came up with sitting on Santa's lap ? That is creepy when you put it in perspective
As an adult, I see the problem. As a child, I loved sitting on the lap of a big, jolly snuggly man.
I tell my kids that I bought their toys and Santa isn't welcome in our home. I took them with me to get the toys this year. We still wrapped them but they know where the toys came from and that Mommy bought them. I didn't tell them anything additional about Santa so they won't spoil it for their classmates.
🤔 I would've wanted to spoil it for the classmates 😂. 🤔 yeah but you a 🤡 anyway! 😂 true!!🤣🤣
Why isnt Santa welcome in your home?
@@MajorHenryL. same question
My parents told me Santa brought gifts and my grandparents said it was El Niño Jesús/ Niño Dios (the Baby Jesus). So in my little 5 year old mind I combined the two. Baby Jesus on Santa's lap and both on the sled 😄
This question is easy for me... When my daughter was little, I told her the truth and that the Spirit of Xmas should be all year long not just one season or just a day. Kinda easy though for me when we celebrate Yule and not xmas.
I did what Josh suggested, but I did it because I didn't want my son comparing gifts from Santa with his friends and some kids leaving like why didn't Santa get me a big gift? So Santa got him the meh gift, but the big gifts came from Mom and Dad.
When he asked if Santa was real, we'd ask if he still wanted gifts from Santa. There were a couple years where we all knew it was a lie and giggled over it. Just an excuse to give presents!
The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 👈🤭
Is the best.
Merry Christmas to all. 🥳🥳🤓🎅🎅💕
Tell the children the truth ! Dulce is right and her nose ring is so cute !!!
That mob doctor is a Batman TAS reference 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I love you Josh Johnson
Christmas has become a mostly secular and commercial celebration. It always incorporated pagan traditions anyway so I don't really understand the frustration behind people choosing not to make Christianity the focus of their celebrations.
I guess Dulce was at a very close friend's house otherwise, it's pretty rude to go to someone's home and complain about the way they choose to celebrate a holiday.
I need a drink! That was too much!😂😂😂😂
I made up my mind as to how to tell my kids about Santa. As a reader, when the questions came up, I gave them the truth about the legend. It was fun showing them how to look up the info for themselves.
I’m not Christian but I celebrate Christmas. I just ignore all the Jesus parts. I like food, family, and festivities too!
"Atheist is their whole personality" ma'am have you met many Christians? 😂
I told my son at 6yo that Santa wasn’t real but it is a fun thing to do and we all play the game because it is fun. One of the parents was upset that her child was questioning the Santa story. I responded, Truth is always the most important.
Is it though? 6 is pretty young and I can understand the other parent being upset.
Everyone is different, but the real world is rough. What's wrong with kids believing in a bit of magic?
38:40 I had to rewind so many times😂 like did she just say what I think she said!?! 😂😂😂 da carter
I don’t tell my children any lies at All whatsoever and Trust me parents it’s fine!!!!
I just love the fact that she just outmathed him. And he actually thought pyramid was actually a term for haters that's hilarious
Yes Dulcé atheism is all about telling everyone about the teachings from our great atheist book and going to an atheist building and other countries to convert the locals to our atheism, it's absolutely our whole personality. Seriously though Merry Christmas from an atheist.
Dulcé way too saved for this topic🤣🤣🙌🏿
Dulce’s “oooh, Goldfish!”
🤔 Hilarious! 😂
😊 yay! Ready for the convo!
I think that it's ok to tell them that he was a person, but it's a child's caregiver that is acting like Santa now. Whatever the reason they do it. Because not all caregivers have the same financial resources. So one child gets the latest tech, and another child gets dollar store special, it's not that Santa doesn't like you
She really not even gonna acknowledge that it's definitely becoming, if not mostly already, a more commercialized/secular holiday? 🙄 living in some delusion
I feel Christmas is a religious holiday but at the same time it isn't at this point. It's more about Santa and buying things. It's like Thanksgiving is more about eating a lot of food then giving thanks. Just the impression that I have gotten.
I worked with many people of different religions and from many different countries. Quite a few celebrated Xmas as a nonreligious holiday. I was told by many of my coworkers that they gave in to Xmas because of the commercialization and they just joined in.
"Practice" for the acceptance of (y)our own indoctrination.
On athiesm, but there's a ton of athiests who you don't even know are athiests because they don't say it. So....no, not all athiests talk about being athiest. You know?
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that there's a topic and maybe 15 mins is spent on just that - the conversation always takes a hard right, then self corrects :D :D :D
I never got with the whole "Santa" stuff either ..... my childhood home had no fireplace so no way for the fatman to get in.
I can see both points. And love the healthy debate!
I personally did not tell my son Santa was real. I did tell him there was a man who lived a long time ago named Saint Nicholas who was generous and gave gifts. So my son knew who Santa was based on. I did not feel right telling my son that Santa was real and then someday he would learn Santa was not real.
I did tell my son that some of his friends believed Santa was real and not to tell them Santa was not real. I wanted to respect other parents' choices even if I did not agree with their choices. Plus I did not want my son getting into an argument with his friends over what his friends' parents had told them.
My baby over here, he 800 months 😂☠️
Christians are here stealing Yule / Saturnalias like it's someone's homework and pretending they created it.
This title alone had me on the floor.
As an Atheist, I agree that Christmas today is about appreciation for who and what we have, enjoying the season, and looking forward to spring. It was about similar ideas (plus week-long partying and mischief) for at least a century until, in the spirit of the usual cultural control and manipulation, Emperor Constantine inserted Christian characters into Saturnalia customs and over the course of a decade, turned it into a Christian day.
I told my children Santa wasn't real, but there are children whose parents told them he's real, so we will let them believe their parents.
Listening to the podcast and came here to answer your question about where the Easter bunny comes from, and that would again be from the Pagans (you're welcome!) The celebration of Ostara happens at that time (also, Easter is always on the Sunday after a full moon and that's pretty dang pagan-y too I think lol) and it is a fertility (spring time) holiday. Life returning to the earth after a long winter. That's where the eggs and bunnies come from, they're fertility symbols :)
The Christmas grind set way to go out with a bang 😂😂😂
We did "Hanukkah Harry" at my Dad's house. He brought socks and school supplies, stuff like that. My Dad gave us the toys and fun stuff each night.
She promised her momma what, now?? 😅😂😂
🤣🤣🤣 grinding Josh is my favorite! ❤
I was never told Santa was real. And I was always worried about the children whose parents couldn’t afford presents, I didn’t want them to think that they must be bad kids.
It would be great to hear more of Josh’s completed thoughts…
Easter is tied to Passover. It's just convenient that it falls close enough to pagan spring celebrations for those traditions to be easily co-opted.
The letters go to a town that’s actually called the North Pole in Alaska. 😂❤
But totally agree with did not believe it when I was a child 😂
Josh Johnson is without a doubt the funniest, sexiest, person from Louisiana ever!
I asked Santa for my dad one Christmas and thats when I found out the truth. I was 11.
Dulcé Sloan 100% should take over the Daily!
Its that kevin hart meme. He says he would lie to his kids about Santa
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂Okaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy
"As someone who believes in whimsy..." - Josh Johnson (completely deadpan) Y'all make me LAUGH! Happy Holidays! xo
I firmly believe that children need to believe in things that can't be seen. Santa represents, hope, love, kindness. I think we do them a favor to believe in those things.
39:16 Santa on the grind! LOL im dead~
but also I'm not about santa. tell the kids the truth~~ lol sorry Josh