Mall Santas

I tell my kids that they help Santa and relay the message of what they want for Christmas. I said that the real Santa is way too busy this time of year, making all the toys, so he has these human "helpers" to get the want lists of all the boys and girls. Hope this helps!

My son thinks of Santa as a spirit (like an actual spirit...japanese style... that can be flesh or not according to how they feel like). A very literal "spirit of christmas".

I was fortunate there, because when he was three, he came up with his own explanation of mall santas, tv santas, etc. I nearly fell over laughing, because I found out about his theory when he was having an "argument" with my husband about it.

"Daaaaaaad! Santa's a spirit, so he doesn't have to follow regular old rules like we do. He can just break off pieces of his spirit off and LOAN it to all of the PEOPLE. He could give thousands and thousands and thousands of little specks of his spirit to different people if he wanted, and it would let ALL of them be Santa while they had it. How do you think he makes it to every house in one night, huh??? Or to the Santa's that you get pictures with, huh???? Then when they go home at night, he takes the spirit-piece back. That's how he knows what you want for christmas, and whether or not you've been good. Just think about it dad... sometimes he has people dress up like him, but he could be ANYONE. You have to be good, or he'll know. No cheating. What if he SAW you kick Milo, and then you lied about it? Huh??? Bad twice!!"

And then he put on his very serious toddler-face and thought for a second "I BET though that there are some bad people who only PRETEND to have a piece of his spirit. So you have to pay attention with your heart too, and not just your eyes."

My son didn't really start talking until he was 2. (Maybe 4-10 words TOPS before then). Since then, he really hasn't been quiet. We sometime joke that he was saving his breath.

We explained that most of these are Santa's helpers, but Santa himself comes down to visit, too. They all dress alike so you cannot figure out which one is the real Santa.

My oldest is 5 and so far we have always gone to the same mall santa and he has thought that is the real santa and I have encouraged that. He kind of forgets year to year anyway. Now, if he asks, we will say that they are santas helpers and the real santa is up at the North Pole getting all the toys ready. I have lucked out with the lack of questions about it. I see you have a girl and of course girls are going to examine the santas and see the differences ;) In that case, I'd just say that is the way Santas helpers dress so they can take the picures with the kids... like it is the santa helper uniform.

I tell my 3 and 5 year old that the Santa's at the stores are not all the real Santa. Some of them are just helper Santa's. I tell them that sometimes you are very lucky and will get the real Santa, but you never know until you get there. I take them to the same Santa every year, or try to. I tell them that you can tell if the Santa beard is real, then it's probably the real Santa. I do tell them that the elves all take really good notes about what you tell Santa that you want so Santa can keep track of it. I also make sure I know what they tell Santa so I can make sure that is what gift comes from Santa. So far they are buying it. I think if you try to tell them that it is the real Santa all the time they are likely to question it more and then what happens if their friends went to a different Santa. I just try to emphasize the magic of it all so they don't try to think to literal about it.

I haven't quite made up my mind on Santa yet, my dauughter is 2 and I would prefer not to get into the whole North Pole story!

Anyhow, with the Mall Santas I would stick to the truth: they are people/actors that dress up like Santa so we can take pictures with them. Period.

Someone else mentioned what a commercial rip off these Mall Santas are ($69 for a set of pictures taken in a Mall? I don't think so!) - so ideally I will be avoiding them by a mile.

This made me smile :)

We were just at the mall yesterday and my 4 year-old was questioning this too! I noticed that all mall santas are gone by the 24th, so I said during the day he's at the mall seeing the children, and that at night and on Christmas eve, he goes back to the north pole to do his work :) It seemed to pacify him for now so hopefully it stays that way, at least until I can be more creative next year!

My almost 6 years old still believes in Santa. When he was 4 he did question why there are so many Santas in the mall and why they look so different. I told him that the real Santa is too busy making and packing toys, that's why the malls have to hire actors to play the role, so the kids can take pictures with him. He still seames happy with that answer!

Hello! Well, growing up I had my picture taken with The REAL Santa, because we went every year to the downtown Seattle Fredrick and Nelsons and yes, every picture from 1977 to 1986 has the same exact Santa. So of course, he was the real one. (ha ha) Anyway, I do take my kids to have their picture taken every year and refuse to pay more than 20 dollars for a picture (which is still kind of ridiculous) - but it is cheesy, and a funny, if not strange, tradition - but I definitely had to tell my kids that these are Santa helpers, because they all look so different and there is a Santa where ever you go these days. It is a tough one, and there are days I feel like telling my kids the "truth" on this one, but in my case, I survived when I found out about Santa and I still like to believe in the whole Santa Claus idea. It's cute. A little strange, but over all cute.
Happy Holidays!

An inquisitive young mind! You don't want to lie, but you don't want to destroy the dream? We've stuck with the Santa's Helpers because Santa can't do everything without help. His elves help him with the toys and keeping tabs on who is naughty or nice. His helpers at other locations are certainly an extension of that.

It's harder to explain why your Helper doesn't have a real beard. A child might ask, "Can't Santa just use his magic so all his helpers have real beards?" I'm not sure how to dodge this one yet. I've ignored the question in the past with distraction, but if you find a suitable answer, please share with the rest of us!

Good luck and enjoy your Christmas Season!

hahahaha.. I just wanted to read the replys.

I tell my daughter that Santa is way too busy at the North Pole getting ready for Christmas, so he has helpers that do the mall stuff.

At the time my little ones were in school, the kids took care of telling them santa was not real. That year I took my kids shopping for another needy family. I told them that this year, they were santa. Every year we do the same thing. They like being santa and making another child happy. They also found the meaning of Christmas in shopping for someone else.