My daughter wants my partner to tell him the way he told his own kids years ago. Partly, it was desperation, because his then-wife was in the hospital, and he was juggling his job, 3 kids, and hospital visits, not to mention trying to pull off Christmas.

So, he told the oldest one that there was essentially both good and bad news about Santa. Briefly… that although he’s no longer living, Santa set an inspiring example when he was alive and people still try to keep his memory alive by giving gifts at Christmas time. Since he (my partner’s son) was now old enough to know the truth, he could help make Christmas happen for his brother and sister by helping with some of the things that needed to be done and were too much for his dad to do without help.

Add the poor along w/ the siblings and you’ll get a [IMO] better outcome.

NO

“There is no Santa” or “Santa is just Mom and Dad” is an early understanding that just follows the understanding of “Santa will give me whatever I want for Christmas.” There are better understandings to be found if one is willing to look. With a better understanding of who Santa is and what he does, we gain better insights of what we ought to do about him. I think they are found in both giving him a break and a hand — with a little help, the jolly old guy is able to do what he does much more effectively. I would suggest you invite your son to a better understanding of Santa than you’ve mentioned thus far — there is never a need to tell a child “There is no Santa” IMO.

“boba,” by the way, was my oldest daughter’s first word, courtesy of dad’s incessant coaching. insert eyeroll here. and i’m ashamed to admit that i was again forced to top our christmas tree with jango. sigh. i should win wife of the year for that alone.

Or at least a Santa doll. You could use a blender like this one to do it.

In this way you can teach the wee lad that technology can make up for Santa’s weaknesses.