caloso

When my kids were 9 or 10 they were smart enough to figure out that Santa wasn't real but they were also smart enough to realize that it wasn't in their interest to let on that they had figured out that Santa wasn't real.

TMonk

I still get Santa Presents. I'm serious.

Typically my parents and I will be staying in the same household (or hotel nearby), and she makes a point of waking up early and knocking on the door... She says that Santa went to the wrong room. I'm usually pretty hungover so she doesn't need to be so sneaky about it.

Flatballer

In my wife's family you get presents from Santa until you have kids of your own. It's kind of fun.

My daughter saw Santa drive by on the top of a firetruck the other day and lost her mind. She's not quite 2 and she's absurdly excited for Christmas and Santa. It makes it fun for my wife and I to see her enjoying it and enjoying the magic of it.

himespau 

My in-laws still give all presents that are clothing from them, but all "fun" presents are from Santa (even for us and each other). And they make my kids say "thank you" to an invisible Santa for every present and then my MIL giggles. I grew up in a household that opened presents on Christmas Eve and didn't do Santa, so I don't really care, but either do Santa or don't, don't half ass it and then make it a joke as if you're begging the kids to figure it out. I get teaching them to say thank you, but it just comes off as weird to me. Maybe not to someone for whom Santa was part of their childhood.

Oddly, while I didn't have a Santa or Easter bunny (though we got presents and my mom did an awesome easter scavanger hunt for baskets), we did have a tooth fairy. I sure as hell wasn't going to let on when I knew that was my folks because I wanted to keep those 50-cent pieces coming in. I think at the time, that was like a half week's allowance.

Homebrew01

We never did the Santa thing with our kids. Why give Santa all the credit for our effort !?
Plus, it just didn't feel right.

I don't remember hearing about Santa when I was a kid.

furiousferret

I'm very anti gift. I don't even get anything from my wife. That being said, I splurge on my nephews and nieces. I'm also probably going to get an Oculus or something else to play with.

Either in foster care or with my mom we were always told how hard it was to get those gifts so it wasn't worth it. The last year I got gifts my mom took us to the Salvation Army and some of our classmates were giving out the gifts. I lasted 2 weeks at that school.

So yeah, if you're a parent don't guilt the kids about how hard you had to work to get those presents.

furiousferret

https://i.imgur.com/yH25jLZ.mp4

topflightpro

I enjoyed that link FF.

I had younger siblings, so I remember trying to keep up the charade as long as I could for them. And like the video said, it's nice to think that Santa exists.

We don't have kids, but I usually tag one or two gifts for my was as being from Santa. (I tend to sign the cards in all caps too.)

The dog also gives gifts. I write those tags with my left hand to make it seem like the dog wrote the tag. Sometimes, letters are backward. His name is Sanford, and this year, he signed some gifts as being from San-ta-ford.

topflightpro

In other news, I have decided to basically unsubscribe from every email sales alert I receive. I don't think I've ordered from 90 percent of these companies, and I am tired of getting daily or weekly emails from them.

gsteinb

haha people get those?

the little contact I have here is the total extent of my contact with the outside world, aside from those who occasionally text, or even less frequently, email me.

caloso

Awesome.

Doge

We have clouds!

I'm so excited to see overcast SoCal clouds. I hope it rains.

hubcyclist

i watched star wars last night, 10:30pm showing with hardly anyone in the theatre, I really liked it (I'm seeing that it's been quite polarizing)

Wylde06

Ive never seen a star wars movie.

mattm

you’re not missing much.

except for maybe og yoda.

Flatballer

My wife and I bought and watched the full original 6 over about a week a couple years back (before we had kids, obviously). It was enjoyable. I think the original three are pretty great.

We did have to decide whether to watch it in episode order (1,2,3,4,5,6) or release order (4,5,6,1,2,3). We decided on release order, but this is something that people debate.

topflightpro

I'm sort of surprised to hear you say that. We're pretty much the same age, and I just grew up with Star Wars and Star Wars toys. We had all the toys, or at least it felt that way. Star Wars was the first movie I saw in the theater. (Before VHS, it was not uncommon for big movies to come back to the theater.) I was Luke Skywalker for Halloween. My brother was Han Solo.

While my brother, who is a year and a half younger than me, also had many of the toys and did dress up as Han Solo, never really got into it as much as me. He was more into sports. We spoke this past weekend, and he said he didn't think he'd actually seen any of the movies all the way through. I'm pretty sure he saw Return of the Jedi in the theaters with me as a kid, but I am not surprised he wouldn't remember it.

Speaking of, one of our favorite Christmas stories growing up revolves around Star Wars. My parents dragged us to my grandparents - dad's parents - for a visit. We never liked going there. They were not friendly or loving grandparents, and their house was always cold and dark. We were probably 4 and 5 years old. Anyway, they bought my brother a Star Wars ship. They bought me a globe.

My aunt (dad's sister) even brought it up last year at my cousins wedding. "What kid wants a globe? That was a stupid gift."

(Side note: I still have the globe, which shows the Soviet Union, divided Germany, and Zaire.)

The other big Christmas story is about the GI Joe Aircraft Carrier. It was 7 feet long. I asked for it for several years and never got it. My parents said we didn't have room for it in the house, to which I always pointed out there was plenty of room in the living room - you know, the room with the fancy furniture that we never went into or used. Anyway, about 10 years ago, my mother bought me a GI Joe Aircraft Carrier for Christmas. This one was maybe 3 feet long. She told me I could no longer say I never got everything I wanted for Christmas. It gave me a good chuckle. We ended up putting it into a closet unopened and donating it to Toys for Tots the next year.

furiousferret

Star Wars was the first film I saw in the theater (that I remember) and we saw it 5 times. The adults would pretend to be annoyed but I'm pretty sure that was an act.

revchuck 

Pervert.

Enthalpic

Christmas laziness has set in at work.

Who can beat 39627?
https://santatracker.google.com/wrapbattle.html

TheKillerPenguin

+69

Flatballer

I don't have an office, and that looks WAY too much like a game to get away with. It was fun for a few seconds though.

TMonk

I arrived at work today to see a personal gift from a close co-worker/friend, a Starbucks gift card from the sales team. and even an Amazon gift card from an important customer/cleint that I have been working with closely since June. The customer went as far as to ask for my mgr's email address so he could give me some positive feedback.

Wow! Couldn't be happier with the way things are going at work right now.

Happy holidays everyone!!!

himespau 

Jedi was the first I remember. It may not have been the actual first, but I was 4 or so when it came out in 83.

big john

The first movie I remember seeing at a theater was 101 Dalmations in about 1962. I remember because we went in my dad's 1956 Buick station wagon and it was a drive-in. It got foggy and we couldn't see the screen, so they gave everyone refunds/rainchecks.


Saw E.T. at a drive-in about 20 years later. Took my truck and put lawn chairs in the bed. I remember the women crying when the space guy was dying.


Never had any interest in any Star Wars movie, but I did like a couple of the Star Trek flicks. My ex was a big fan of Picard.