Preparing for winter II

nicki_2

With the Santa thing, my DD is 9 and has been told for years by certain friends that Santa doesn't exist. :mad: She asked me earlier this year if Santa is real, so not wanting to upset her I explained that Santa is real in the sense that he represents the spirit of Christmas, the love, the giving, the family time and in that sense he is real, but he isn't physically real. He is someone to believe in, and who represents the christmas spirit, just like the Ghost of Christmas present in a Christmas Carol (in particular the muppet version which we adore!)

She knows I buy the gifts, wrap the gifts, I put the stuff in the stocking and I eat the mincepie & drink the "branded irish whiskey cream" left out for Santa but I do it all when she's asleep. Its still a surprise and as if Santa has been, but she knows it was me. She also knows to keep quiet about it and go along with the whole believing thing as I have a 2 year old niece who we want to keep it all alive for :santa2:

NualaBuala

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
There is a Santa, there is!

I think I would say nothing Confuzzled, and just carry on until she says something directly. My Mum was upset when I told her but I was delighted with myself, thinking I was very grown up. I think I was about 11 but not sure of that. I was fortunate to have a younger sister so I still got gifts from Santa for another few years. I remember trying to convince her to pretend she still believed so we would both get pressies but she wasn't having it!

Today I am going to make the most of the sunny weather and cut the grass one last time till spring. It's very long so will probably take all day and I need frequent breaks. Might bubblewrap the (drained) outside tap too - does anyone know if that is necessary? There is no water in it now so perhaps it can't burst?

Confuzzled

thanks everyone for your responses about the santa issue they are very much appreciated!

actually i feel better now, i didn't want to 'break it to her' particulary as she is the kind of kid that usually just asks me about things being true or not. but being and only child and having been told sooo young i had nothing to base the 'normal' age of when kids transition between knowing it's not real but continuing to enjoy and just them giving up on the idea all together (i hope she still enjoy christmas just as much when she finally does let on she knows!)

we have a few christmas traditions that i am very keen to continue. she always gets a new pair of pj's on christmas eve something warm and fuzzy and soft. she also gets to open one present on christmas even and unlike my own mother i let her pick a few from under the tree and i choose which of those is ok to open (my mom always gave me stuff like socks and underwear to open on christmas eve, yuck, those are awful pressies anyway unless you asked for them specifically!)

every year she gets a new arty thing and will colour or draw before bed and leaves out something she's made for santa along with the food and drink.

her dad will miss 'checking santa is gone' and leaving the footprints of 'snow' (babypowder or flour) from her bedroom to the christmas tree to the front door lol but hopefully he'll get a few more years of that now!

and i'll still give her a stocking even when she no longer believes. in fact i do up one for everyone each year, nothing hugely expensive or big but cute or sweet little things and chocolate coins etc (i used to make everyone easter baskets too )

and every year my daughter takes great pride in handing out the presents one by one and acting a bit like a game show host drumming up excitement and enthusiasm from everyone else while the recipient opens their gift i love that so i hope she is happy to continue with that even when she becomes a grumpy hormonally driven teenager!

so, thanks everyone, i really appreciate the advice and your ideas of christmas traditions. though i don't really enjoy christmas much for myself anymore i do so enjoy it for her.

we're heading into dundee tomorrow for a girls day out so i will be heading to primark to grab some of these wonderful pjs everyone keeps talking about... and wish me luck, i seem to recall last year they had some womens boots in size 8 so i'm gonna try and see if i can find some that actually fit me properly...

Stoney_G

My sister was terrified of Father Christmas - my parents used to have to promise to wait up for him to tell him to leave the presents down the street as the thought of him in the house was too much for her!! They then had to 'collect' the presents from down the street!!! We have a video of her nursery Christmas party where all the children are singing and then FC appears at the window - cue screams of delight from all but my sister who literally flies across the room and attaches herself to one of the nursery nurses and screams blue murder for the rest of the video even after being taken out of the room!!!!

I found out about FC not being real when I was woken up late Xmas Eve by my Dad drunk on FC's sherry riding my new bike around the (small) hallway :rotfl:

coco1980

I would let your dd believe as long as poss if you can, we had to tell ds when he was 8 as some horrid kids where we used to live took the mick of him for still believing:mad: some kids are just evil!! but we havent changed anything that do. A colleague at work was saying last year that her dd who is 10 was getting bullied in school for still believing but since she ( my colleague) still wants her to believe she has told her he is still true and is telling her the same this year:o

we still have 2 young nephews that believe and that makes all the difference.

bluebag

I told my eldest daughter when she was 11 as I didn't want her going to high school and looking a twit IYSWIM. She threw herself on the bed and bawled for what seemed like ages, I felt such an awful mother.

She came down as asked me through a tear stained face if the toothfairy was real, quick as a flash I said 'yes'. I thought I'd save that bombshell for another day!

NualaBuala

Your Christmas traditions sound lovely Confuzzled. I like the PJs one, might do that for myself!

diddly74

Part of the Xmas Eve hamper will be the christmas pjs. I finish my placement on 3rd Nov so I have some time to look round for those perfect pajamas for the girls and me and their Dad (normally we don't wear any so they will more than likely to be "lounging wear" for me and him).

I have got wordsearches and Xmas pics printed off the internet for the girls to do. A Santa please stop here sign for the window. I was going to get one for the garden, but if its snowy or frosty we won't be able to get it in the ground !:-O We will have choc coins, popcorn, shortbread, mince pies and such like (not all to be eaten at once lol but its stuff we all like). There is a christmas mug each for some scrummy hot chocolate with marshmellows and whippy cream. All to be consumed in front of Christmas Eve tv or a christmas film sitting together in our new pajamas!

I have a Father Christmas pinny which will be in there for me to wear the next day as I cook the lunch for us all and MIL. Might even get a christmas treat for the 2 dogs too lol. I haven't decided yet if it will be under the tree Christmas Eve morning or if I shall get my Hubby to "Find" it on the doorstep as he comes home from work (he works in retail so will have to work Christmas eve )

And as far as Santa goes - he lives and is real if he is real in your heart - and that is all that matters. I just hope my 8 yr old doesn't pronounce before Xmas that he doesn't!

Hopefully by Christmas our house will be completely Winterised and all our drafts will be plugged and the heating fixed so it is controllable. MIL is on the lookout for second hand heavy door curtains for me, along with blankets to line the curtains I have and pie and caserole dishes as I never seem to have enough to do the bulk cooking I want to! She is an amazing bargain hunter!

Herewego

When my DS was younger we spent xmas eve watching santa on noradsanta, it follows him around the world through different time zones bit of knowledge along the way if you have kids try it.

Kitchenbunny

Hi all, been lurking but thought I'd pop on to say that I've been stocking up on tealights and other candles, and my sister has been knitting hot water bottle covers ready for winter. I also wanted to share that if anyone is looking to get their winter coat dry-cleaned before the weather turns really cold Johnson's Dry Cleaners are doing an offer of a coat for £8. I've seen the offer in their window and will be going to get mine cleaned this week so I'll let you know how it goes. Normally it is a lot more expensive than that. I have a lovely cream coat that does tend to pick up dust from rain and traffic silt so it is nice to get it clean.

KB xx