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Do parents get excited about Christmas, just for the chance to relive their own childhood?

A new report in The Lancet claims that parents can be guilty of ignoring “the harshness of real life”.

CHILDREN ARE NOT the only ones who get excited about the imminent arrival about Santa Claus. Parents get excited too.

Writing in The Lancet Psychiatry, researchers have claimed that some parents at Christmas time are motivated by a desire to relive their own fond memories of childhood, rather than from wanting to create a magical time for their children.

She said: “Many people may yearn for a time when imagination was accepted and encouraged, which may not be the case in adult life.”

Parents buy into the fantasy around Christmas time in an attempt to recapture the feeling they had back when they believed magic was real, according to the Dr Kathy McKay, mental health researcher from the University of New England, Australia.

She said: “Many people may yearn for a time when imagination was accepted and encouraged, which may not be the case in adult life.”

She added that the prevalence of Harry Potter, Star Wars and Doctor Who fandom was a sign that “this desire to briefly re-enter childhood” persists into adulthood.

The new report from researchers at the University of Exeter also says that children’s trust in their parents may be undermined by certain lies told about important issues around Christmas time.

“If they are capable of lying about something so special and magical, can they be relied upon to continue as the guardians of wisdom and truth?” they write.

Psychologist Professor Christopher Boyle said that the morality of making children believe in myths for a period of many years “has to be questioned”.

All children will eventually find out they’ve been consistently lied to for years, and this might make them wonder what other lies they’ve been told.

The researchers do accept that there are some degrees to which lying to someone to protect them from being hurt is acceptable, such as in the case of the passing of a loved one.

They did reinforce that, in terms of Christmas time, it is important to ask “whether lying in this way will affect children in ways that have not been considered”.

The report concludes:

Might it be the case that the harshness of real life requires the creation of something better, something to believe in, something to hope for in the future or to return to a long-lost childhood a long time ago in a galaxy far far away?”

So what do you think? Do parents get excited about Christmas in an attempt to relive their own childhood?


Poll Results:

Yes (1555)
No (607)
No interest/no opinion (184)

Read: The Dublin Airport Santa has taken up his position in Terminal 2 and people are excited

Read: Gardaí pulled over a rather suspicious character in Kildare this morning

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15 Comments
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    Mute Seth Cheffetz
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 7:51 AM

    Or maybe parents get excited to make their kids so happy and share something special with them…

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    Mute Carina Clarke
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 9:02 AM

    I’m doomed so. I wonder which is causing more damage. The Santa myth, or the ‘we have no internet because the router is broke myth’. At the minute my 11year old is saying “he can’t live like this” and I’m saying neither can I “tidy your room up”.

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    Mute Billy Larkin
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 2:54 PM

    Unashamedly so.

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    Mute Sam Bartell
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 8:03 AM

    Feck sake, what a load of tripe! Parents home with kids, prezzies, family, bit of craic and its analysised to death. Did Scrooge fund that research?

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    Mute A H
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 8:39 AM

    It’s funny you mention Scrooge, as Dickens has a whole novel written about not letting children play or use their imagination, “Hard Times”. Did it at school and it depressed me. “NEVER Wonder” is what the father used to tell his kids. I guess those researchers are fans of his.

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    Mute A H
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 8:03 AM

    Jesus H. This is depressing. We were all told lies to make our childhood more magical and fun. We have years ahead of mundane responsibility and the drudgery of everyday normal experience. I am not a serial killer because me ma told me there was a santy and I don’t have major trust issues because I was “lied” to. I would worry about the children of these psychologists and feel sorry for them. Anyone who has half a braun knows that without imagination and play, your children can become damaged.

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    Mute A H
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 8:04 AM

    *brain

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    Mute Lily
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 8:49 AM

    I couldn’t sleep with excitement on Xmas eve. I love to see the kids all happy and crazy with excitement. Once they questioned if Santa was real or not I told them the truth.

    I never believed in Santa as a kid. So I never experienced the magic. I gave that magic to my kids for 7 years before each got wise and questioned Santas existence.

    I did get to relive a bit of my childhood, I played barbies with my daughter (I never owned a barbie as a kid). I got to play cars, darts and shoot nurf guns with my boys. Much fun is had on Xmas day getting down on the floor and playing with my kids. It’s what parenthood is about, sharing the fun with your children. It’s the best feeling ever. Christmas is just an excuse to go crazy all at once.

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    Mute Jesper
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 7:59 AM

    Yes it would be far more beneficial to this corporate world if we eradicate all imagination and sense of wonder from as early an age as possible. People need to wake up and live.

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    Mute molly coddled
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 11:09 AM

    Christmas growing up was a magical time for us, my dad used to make it a wonderful time. We would go to bed on Christmas Eve with no tree or decorations only to wake up Christmas morning and the sitting room would be like a winter wonderland, tree, decorations and sooty footprints. But it wasn’t just for us kids it was more for my mum who never had an enjoyable Christmas growing up, he loved her deeply and would go all out just to make it memorable for her. I miss them both deeply.

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    Mute Kieran OKeeffe
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 12:46 PM

    @molly coddled:
    Lovely memories Molly..thanks for sharing..anyone else miss the time when Christmas started in December?..before the proliferation of discount shops..and endless ads..

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    Mute Maurice Bourke
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 8:39 AM

    People wanting to ‘ignore the harshness of real life’ is nothing new. It’s the reason the lottery exists and thrives but I think people put Christmas on for kids rather than this.

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 11:19 AM

    The moral of the story is: life is shit, so you may as well depress your kids now as it will save time later.

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    Mute Barbara Atkinson
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 12:45 PM

    ‘May’ ‘may’ ‘may’ . be weird if parents did not get excited!

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    Mute Cian Foley
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    Dec 24th 2016, 1:56 AM

    i wrote a song for us parents about how having kids brings the magic back… check out the vid here if you have a spare couple of mins… https://youtu.be/t-r9u1esunQ

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