Postman Santa

As you all know, this year I will be celebrating Christmas in England for the very first time. And I am confused...

Whereas in Holland, children believe Sinterklaas, who comes from Spain on his boat with all his black helpers and who hands out presents and sweets, is incredibly rich because he can afford to do so, here I am told that the children, or at least the ones in this family, believe we buy the presents, but hand them over to Santa Claus, and he will then give them their presents on Christmas Day..... That's why the gifts have tags with 'To and From' on them..

What?? So Santa Claus is nothing but a postman??

To me this all sounds too complicated. Why would you hand your gifts over to Santa Claus, why not give them yourself? And where do the adults see Santa, and why does he then wait until Christmas Day to return the gifts?


I was talking to my dad the other day on Skype (gotta love it!) and he said 'Those kids are just playing with you. They don't believe this whole story, they just want their prezzies!'

What do the children in your family believe when it comes to Santa Claus?
And how do you 'sell' them the story of postman Santa?