I'll tell you what's ****, ****ing relatives sending

[Monty92]

I think you'll find that kids' have a rather more fluid concept of reality than you imagine. Most of the time, they are almost alarmingly materialistic. When they're not, it's usually because they choose not to be.

My daughter 'believed' in Santa Claus to the extent that she got a stocking full of gewgaws once a year. She obviously ceased to believe in him at some point because she's not a retard, but continued with the pretence because she a/ realised it pleased her parents as much as it did her and b/ because she was worried that if she admitted she didn't believe in him, she wouldn't still get the stocking.

Essentially, what you seem to be scared of is that your child will be too thick to work shït out for himself. That's pointless because he almost certainly isn't and, if he is, telling him Santa isn't real won't save him.

No, I'm not scared of that at all. I'm scared that along with being formally introduced to the concepts of religion and faith (which he will be as soon as he enters education), it will help inculcate a general credulousness that will be harder to shrug off as he grows older.

Given that much of human psychology is determined in the early years, and given how prevalent credulousness is among otherwise intelligent adults, I see this as a genuine risk.