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As a parent, how do you tell your child that Santa is not going to visit them this year?

I am asking this question for people that have children that still believe in Santa.

I do not have any children, but with the economy being bad, I couldn't help but wonder. So what happens when Santa does not come to visit, but the child goes to school and finds out that Santa visited their classmates? The child that didn't get anything would probably feel as though they had been bad all year and weren't deserving. How do you explain this to a child?

Update:

Thank you for all the answers so far, many good points were made. Parents have a year to get gifts and even if the parents are financially struggling, gifts could come from family, friends, yard sales, etc. Even one gift would be good. I think that too many people wait to the last minute and feel as though their child has to have expensive items.

16 Answers

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    I wouldn't tell my child this because I would do everything in my power to have something for her for Christmas. The economy is tight but Christmas comes the same time each year...its not a surprise so there is a whole year to plan for it. The dollar store has tons of things a kid would like. For under $10 you can give your kid a little Christmas. And if $10 is still too much...community care provides programs to get your kids on to get a toy...so do many fire stations, churches, schools and so on. Websites like Kijiji often have something for cheap or free. Or people willing to help or know where you can get help. Heck I would make something if thats all I could swing. I would go without whatever I needed to in order to give my daughter something. The sad part is...a lot of people who do let their kids go without are not fully going without themselves or they wait until a few weeks before Christmas before they start looking for help. I work in a local mall cleaning so I don't make huge money but I find a lot of change around on the floors and tables. I decided this summer to start putting any change I find ($0.01, $0.05 or $0.10..anything bigger I keep for laundry or coffee) in a can and see what I get. To date I have around $25. Its not a ton, but its money I simply found that added up and can give a child a small Christmas. Just shows that there are ways to save up some money if you really try.

  • Selar
    Lv 7
    9 years ago

    That is a tough one. Santa is supposed to be magical and bring your desire. Well we all know how that works. If I had difficulty that year I would probably tell my kids...so many kids have been good this year and santa has way too many toys to give. Pick something you would really like and we will see what he can do. Or maybe, santa is going to surprise you this year and get you what he thinks you may enjoy. Children are pretty versatile so they are able to bounce right back in the face of adversity. If it is a huge issue, I would suggest the parent being honest with the kid about santa and how life really works. But all jokes aside, technically we do have 365 days till the next Chrsitmas. It is not like it springs up unannounced. We all know it is coming. The financially strapped parents would do well to be prepared in advance. Part of a parents responsibility is to force future issues. Gifts can be bought throughout the year.

  • ?
    Lv 6
    9 years ago

    That doesnt happen. No matter how tight it is and no matter how bad the economy is, theres always a way to get a present. There are programs that you can sign up for, or you can go without something for a few weeks and get enough to get a few things from a dollar store or a second hand store, you can go to a junk yard and find something old like a bike or anything and clean it up, or you can make something. Even if they arent amazing gifts, theres no way a kid wont get a single present until their parents have no imagination and arent willing to take the effort, there are so many ways to get free presents. What we do in my family is throughout the year we collect all of the old bottles and cans we can get and recycle those for five cents a piece and we do odd jobs around the neighborhood, like my husband painted a neighbors apartment a couple weeks ago, and take all of the money we get for those things and put them toward Christmas presents.

    Source(s): Mother of 5
  • 9 years ago

    If a child believes in Santa the shouldnt be told he wont be coming. Christmas can be cheap. There are orginizations that give toys to families in need. There doesn't have to be much under the tree but to say he simply isn't coming and this magical being is somehow affected by a kids broke parents would crush them. My friends husband has been jobless for a few years but between food pantries(also gives toys) and toys for tots and salvation army they end up having gifts for their kids

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  • LOLeah
    Lv 7
    9 years ago

    My parents weren't wealthy when I was growing up and I remember once or twice having my mom warn me that Christmas wouldn't be amazing. If I remember correctly, she said Santa was still coming and would have presents for me, but there would be less from her and my dad (because they always had presents for all of us kids from both). But I never had a totally giftless Christmas and I know my parents made a lot of sacrifices around the holidays to make them as good as possible for all of us.

  • 9 years ago

    Well, to stop that from happening, you get your child on those trees in places like walmart, where people pull off a name and decide to get presents for that child. Some nice family did that for me when I was a small child. Another thing is if you can afford any type of shopping, go to yard sales, sometimes you can find cheap that's in amazing shape. :)

  • 9 years ago

    I'd go without eating for a week before I'd let my child get nothing for Christmas. It might not be whatever was on the top of their list, but they'd have something under the tree from Santa.

  • 9 years ago

    I think my response would be to say that because Santa knows that times are so very hard these days, he gave all the toys to the families who needed them the most, and we should be grateful the other families got them because obviously they needed help more than we did, and so it was right that they should have them.

  • 9 years ago

    If my household finances were in such a wreck that I could not afford at least one small gift per child, I would take no shame in signing up for a program like Toys for Tots.

  • I would just tell them Santa got lost and couldn't find our house, so he's gonna drop the presents off later.

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