Sorry, I can't agree with your DF either. We are Catholic & celebrate the "true" meaning of Christmas, being Christs birth & our daughter is taught this too.

Don't get me wrong, she still knows who Santa is & she gets very excited when it comes to any of the commercialised Christmas things, whether it be santa, his "Ho ho ho" or any of the other fun things. But she also knows about "Baby Jesus" & why we celebrate Christmas. She has her Christmas stocking ready for Santa on Christmas Eve & we'll of course leave the food & drink out for him too. I think its great for parents too, seeing the excitement on your childs face when they see Santa is priceless!

I too have very fond memories from childhood & a huge part of that was Christmas. I still to this day get very excited coming up to Christmas as it's my favourite time of year. I actually annoy some people because I get so enthused haha (Just ask my DH, he told me today that me being so enthused makes him become more "Bah hunbug" every year haha... I hope he's joking LOL)

So my opinion is to let children enjoy being children, let them experience the magic of Santa. You can do this & keep things not so commercialised as suggested above... one small gift from Santa. I don't see the harm but I do think they would be missing out on alot if they were in the minority of Children who don't believe in Santa.

I also believe that Children who celebrate Christmas should also be told the true meaning for Christmas, being the birth of Christ, as without it there would be no such thing as Christmas.

As I said, thats just my opinion, I hope I haven't offended anyone because that wasn't my intention.

Good luck in making your decision