Every year at this time I get just a tiny bit frustrated, and I know it's a silly thing to get frustrated about, but it still bothers me.
As a family Nick and I decided not to teach our kids that Santa is real.....he's not. I know some people don't think it's a "lie", but I don't tell my kids that Barney is real, or that The Beast (as in Beauty and the Beast)is real, so why would I tell them Santa is real? Why would I tell them that a big fat man sneaks into our house in the middle of the night? Why would I tell them that Santa brings them toys? I really don't get it. We have wonderful memory filled Christmas' with our kids. We give gifts to each other, we buy gifts for others, we buy gifts for those who don't get any other gifts. We put up a Christmas tree, we read Christmas books (including those about mythical Santa), we watch Christmas movies (inlucing those about Santa). We look at Christmas lights at night, we bake Christmas goodies etc.... The ONLY difference is that we just don't make Santa a part of it (other than the books and movies). In fact I go one step farther and we research how other countries around the world celebrate Christmas (they don't belive in Santa either). This year each week leading up to Christmas we are going to learn all about one country, bake their Christmas dishes, and desserts, make their tradisional Christmas crafts etc.....
During Christmas we put 100% of our focus on Jesus' birth. Yes I know that this wasn't really the date of his birth, but it is the time that the church has set aside to celebrate. We read the advent, we sing Christmas songs, we read from the bible, we talk about the birth of Jesus and the meaning that has for us. It's a very special time for our family. We give gifts to each other and others because the wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus. We read the story of St. Nicholas and the impact that he had on others.
We make it about Jesus and giving, and love, and family, not about a big fat man who sneaks into our house at night. I know it sholdn't bother me what other people choose to do with their family, just like I hope they don't have options on what I do with my family. I just get sad when I here Christian families get so stressed because their kids are starting to not belive in Santa when we have a truly wonderful reason to celebrate apart from all of that. And I just find the statement "If you don't belive you won't receive" so very very sad. Belive in Jesus and receive his love, and his mercy, and his blessings, don't encourage your kids to belive in something false.
Off my soap box........
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2 comments:
I agree 100%. We don't make a big deal about Santa either. Same with Easter. I don't think the easter bunny should share any part of the day with celebrating our Christs resurrection but alas, welcome to the commercialized world! :)
Nicely written, Lins. Until Brisbynne was about 3, we never said anything about Santa and when people would ask her if she had gone to see Santa yet, or if she was excited about him coming to her house, we would just say, "Oh, we say, 'Happy Birthday, Jesus!' " Now that the kids are in school, it is so much harder to keep the focus on Jesus! We do the advent, too, (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!) and my mom got me a beautiful statuette of Santa kneeling at Jesus' manger. We emphasize that Santa is a fun part of Christmas, that it helps us to remember to bless others who don't have as much as we do, but the only reason Christmas is special is because of Jesus! Good for you, for standing up for your decision! In a commercial, dare I say...pagan society that generally tries to take religion out of everything, making a stand against the norm is so rare! But doing what's best for your family is always the right thing to do!
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