Do children ever get scared of Santa?
Asked by
comity (
2837
)
December 3rd, 2011
I’m not of the Christian faith, am an atheist and was just wondering. Do children ever get scared of Santa coming down their chimney into their house while they’re sleeping or when they hear the song “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake”. I know he’s the good guy, but does it sometimes make them scared? At what age do children usually learn he’s a ficticious character?
Please excuse the wording below as it doesn’t apply and I can’t delete it.
em real and able to touch them?
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23 Answers
So far none of the kids I’ve ever known, including myself when I was a kid was afraid of the idea of Santa coming down the chimney into their home in the middle of the night, but lots of kids, especially when they’re about 2 (old enough to recognize different people, but not really understand who they are) get scared enough to start crying when they get taken to see Santa and have their picture taken with him. By the time they’re 3, they usually have a really good understanding of who Santa is, and so they’re no longer afraid. But 2 year olds seem to have the worst time, younger kids, babies don’t seem to have the problem, because they simply don’t know Santa as being any different from every other stranger.
I just realized that I was essentially typing the exact same thing that @Kardamom already said.
So, instead, I’ll just add that my stepsons are 11 and they still believe in Santa. I don’t believe in teaching children that Santa is real, but I go along with the charade in this instance. I think most kids stop believing much younger than 11. I figured it out by the time I was 6.
Sure. One of the things Santa does to bad children is beat them savagely with thorny twigs.
Often little children who are thrust unceremoniously upon a large, strange man’s lap do.
I’ve never known any kids to be afraid of Santa, or as @Kardamom says, the idea thereof. I wasn’t scared of him, but i was also really young when I saw Christmas prezzies stashed in my dad’s closet, so I don’t remember believing in Santa Clause for really long. I’m not entirely sure how much of a difference belief or lack thereof makes in regards to this.
I have to say though, I really appreciate the ’‘horror’’ like observation you made. Some fat creepy guy who sees everything you’re doing from his frozen castle in the darkened North, flying around and climbing down your chimney at midnight…lol. XD
I remmeber asking my dad, but what if the place doesn’t have a chimney? My dad’s answer; he walks through the walls, or teleports. I’ll never forget that. XD
None that I know of. Believing in Santa Claus is another matter. We used to give our kids truthful answers when they asked questions. When my daughter questioned if Santa was real, I told her all about his being a symbol and spirit of Christmas, but not a real person. Years later she told me that when I said that, she knew it wasn’t true. She knew Santa was real. She was an early skeptic like I was. Imagine. Not believing her mother!
Not in the home, necessarily, but the fake Santas in the stores often frighten children.
They should; the local mall Santa of my childhood turned out to be a child molester. I cringe to think I sat on his lap. Ho ho ho indeed.
No, of course not. How could children possibly be frightened of Santa
@flutherother Too scary for the kids, even for the adults. Who watches stuff like that?
Okay @flutherother what did they put in that kid’s milk?
Far out! Now I don’t want Santa visiting.
To answer the question, I agree with @YARNLADY. Those fake, store Santas might be a bit scary to children. Evidenced by crying children who have been thrust into their laps. The real deal though .. nooooo.
It just shows that you can get too much of a good thing.
He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been good or bad, so clearly he’s the ultimate creeper. Who wouldn’t be afraid? Stranger danger!
If Santa were on Facebook, he’d be in jail.
My daughter was OK with Santa, until Christmas Eve, when she finally realized that a strange man was going to enter our house while we were sleeping. Then she completely freaked out. We ended up telling her that Santa would leave the gifts outside by the front door.
Only when he brings his rubber Rudolph with him.
@smilingheart1 Perhaps I’ve been watching too much American Horror Story because I immediately pictured someone in a reindeer gimpsuit. This is not an aspect of Santa I had considered before.
@fundevogel
i was picturing a reindeer shaped blowup sex doll
Oh dear, now I am having dodgy Santa images. Gimp suit reindeer? Blow-up reindeers! I hope children do not have these images in their heads.
@Bellatrix And don’t even try thinking about the “images of sugarplumbs dancing in their heads” and what the kids might be thinking about that.
What the heck is a sugarplumb anyway?
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