Dogsinplastic
avuncular to no one
I don't feel good about perpetuating the Santa myth by telling my 2 year old that there's this invisible guy watching him and if he behaves, the invisible guy will give him a bike and some other toys.
But then again, when trying to keep a 2 year old in line while juggling a 7month old, you use every tool at your disposal. And Santa is quite effective.
I want draw any parallels with organized religion...
Using Santa a control method has never worked for my wife and me. Our 10 year old has been really bitey for the last few years and we wanted to drop the whole charade earlier, but we don't want to ruin it for our four year old for some reason. I'm sick of saying Santa will know you're naughty and want to scream, "I buy all your shit and if you don't stop being a tool you'll be lucky to get actual shit under the tree!" I wish we'd never gone the Santa route.
As to the 10 year old, he clearly is majorly suspicious and may no longer belief in Santa, but he won't say it outright. He also keeps turning almost anything we say into, "So what you're saying is Santa doesn't exist and you buy all the gifts?" I yearn to shout yes, but for our four year old. Ten is a bit old to still believe and his "friends" have been saying there's no Santa for years...fucking killjoy buzzkill shitbags! I've told him that the belief is on him, but if he chooses to no longer belief he better not give his little brother a hard time (even though I'd love to give up the act).