Matt and I will be raising our children to understand that Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth. Santa will be a fun story we tell, Jesus will be the Ultimate Truth we tell.
Apparently it is weird to some that we are not encouraging belief in Santa and we are now being accused of being scrooges and somehow depriving our children of the magic of Christmas.
So, what do you think? Any Christians read my blog and think the same? Any Christians read my blog and disagree? Any other religions out there and you think we are nut cases anyway?
I would love your thoughts.
PS. The most comments we have ever gotten on a post is 10, when we announced Olivia's birth. Let's beat that, shall we?
12 comments:
i say...do we really think God's truth is threatened by the story of saint nicholas? honestly? as a Christian, i believe there is no harm (or confusion) in sharing both. we were raised in a world where santa was a fun myth and Jesus' birth was celebrated simultaneously - and one does not take away from the other. we make Jesus' birth a big birthday party, complete with cupcakes and balloons.
We are not going to pretend that Santa brings the gifts, but we've talked about "Santa" just like we talk about Mickey Mouse. We are going to present him as a fictional character. Because I really want one of those dancing Santas that they used to have at Walmart :)
My husband had a cousin who believed in Santa until he was about 12 (maybe longer)...that SHOCKED me! At that age, I had already made a decision to follow Christ...Children who are 11-12 are perfectly smart enough to be making decisions/commitments that will change the rest of their lives and yet they believe a lie...sad.
I'm not going to lie to Logan about being adopted. I'm not going to lie to Logan about Santa. He's scared of things in costumes anyways, so he'll be relieved to know that Santa isn't real :)
I feel the same way that Kelly above feels. I think both can be celebrated simultaneously. My children will know and understand that Jesus is the REASON we celebrate Christmas and that a relationship with Him is what is MOST important in life...but I see no harm in children believing in Santa either. I believed in Santa as a child and loved the fun of Christmas morning. I do not feel psychologically damaged for having been "fed a lie" and I also don't feel like it has, in any way taking away the importance of Christ in my life (then or now). I may be in the minority here, but I don't feel like I'm lying to Ben or Nattie when we talk about Santa. I just asked Ben "What is the most fun part about Christmas?" and he said, "That it's Jesus birthday!" Now he's singing some song from pre-K that I've never heard..."the presents are nice, but the real gift is You!" :)
I totally agree with you! Our daughter speaks of Santa only because of movies, and because others have told her about it, but we emphasize all the time what Christmas is really about. When I was growing up my parents never pushed Santa, and I don't remember being too upset about that EVER! :)
Agree with Kelly and Ali. I think there's room for both, with emphasis on Jesus as the reason we celebrate.
Personally, I want my children to experience the magic I felt as a kid who believed in Santa. I still get excited about waking up to filled stockings and presents! And I was never confused as a child about why we celebrated or the true meaning of Christmas. My parents made sure of that, and we will do the same for Calvin.
As Christians, I think at times we worry so much about teaching our kids what's right that we lose some of the fun of being/having a kid. I'm a firm believer that you can have both, that there can be a balance between the spiritual and secular. Now there are limits to that, of course, but in situations like this where the secular isn't detrimental to the spiritual message, I see no harm in it. I actually think there's a stronger case for not celebrating Halloween, though we do that, too.
All that being said, I don't have any problem with other parents forgoing Santa - we all have to do what's right for our families. And you shouldn't be made to feel bad for the choices you make, either. You and Matt are excellent parents and have a solid rationale for making the decision you have. I'm sure your girls will love Christmas with or without Santa as a big part of it.
Good blog post!
i totally agree with you! i would love to bag Santa altogether but i can't. darn. makenna knows too much from school. so santa brings stockings...that is this year. i hope to have that go away next year :) Heather explains it well to her kids. Something along the line about St Nick and it is just a fun game with christmas and stuff.
A lady told me one time that she and her family celebrate St. Nick on the European day for St. Nick. They do the Christmas presents on that day. Then when the 25th comes, they make that the celebration of Jesus' birthday. I think it is a great idea. You can google it. I haven't looked into it much> I don't think it is scarring to believe in both, but, I never did. So, I guess I wouldn't really know.
And, I hope other religions would think we are nuts and disagree completely. That is what being a Christian is all about!
we lie to kids at Christmas and Easter and scare the hell out of them at halloween. then we ask them to trust us.
Okay, I'll tie it up with comment #10:) I don't feel strongly one way or the other, but we choose to view Santa as "pretend". The kids sit on his lap at the mall, sleep in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and set cookies out...even though they know Santa is "pretend"~ they still LOVE it and it is starting to be a fun family tradition. We also do a family adventure box, which I highly recommend once your kids are old enough www.christmasadventurebox.blogspot.com It really does keep the focus on Christ, while incorporating some of the American traditions.
We are currently having this debate in our household (I know... kinda late in the season). Strangely enough, one of our concerns is simply "people pleasing" so that other family members don't get huffy. In spite of that, I think we are both leaning toward no Santa. Thanks for the post! Good to see other opinions.
We don't have kids, but neither the hubby nor I had the Santa thing going on as kids, and we're fine. I had the Jesus birthday party, and I liked dressing up as a barnyard pig. Nathan liked spoiling Christmas for all of his friends who believed in Santa. My vote is "No Santa, but make sure your girls don't ruin Christmas for everyone else."
How fun!! I missed this discussion! I like Gregs comment! Lol! I will let them believe in Santa just like I did and I don't feel like my trust in my parents was ruined. I still don't trust everything they say because they still keep stuff from us and our ages range from 37-28 , so we grown! Great post Abby!
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