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I was raised not believing in Santa. We had fun with him. But we knew he wasn't real. When we saw the name "Santa" on our gifts we knew they were from my mom's parents. And let me tell you, "Santa" brought us more than our share!! In fact, he probably brought a little too much. But then when you're the only 2 grandchildren... "Santa" was very good to me and my sister. And, yes, I still get cards and gifts from "Santa". ;)
With my own children, I have chosen not to do the Santa thing. Christmas at our house is about Jesus!
My kids do know who Santa is supposed to be and what others believe. When someone in a store asks them what they want Santa to bring, or what he already brought them, they usually answer, something like, "Daddy is our Santa and he brought us....." {Mommy is the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny. I work double time!}
We have fun with all the Christmas songs. One of my personal favorites is "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". I wouldn't suggest singing it at church for offertory or anything, but driving down the road or baking cookies is a perfectly fine time to have fun and be silly with your kids! Make memories! Someday it will be too late to make memories.
We watch all the fun Christmas shows too. Frosty, Rudolph, The Grinch all are fun and in my opinion, not much different than Cinderella or Bat Man. Santa should never take the place of Jesus. Santa should never take center stage, but I'm not against having fun with him.
We have however had a few leaks where our children have spilled the beans and said innocent things {because children talk allot} that led other children to wonder about it all. One time especially comes to mind. The shoe department at J.C. Penny. Pretty sure that mother was not our biggest fan. Needless to say we left swiftly and without any shoes. Sometimes it's just time to go. ; )
So, to sum it up: we watch the fun shows, sing the fun songs and tease the kids about being elves. Especially when it's time to clean the house! ;) But we know that Santa isn't real. He doesn't bring us gifts. We keep Jesus the center of Christmas. I'll be sharing other fun things we do that help us keep Jesus the focus during the holiday season!
I have friends who think we do too much Santa and others who think we should let our kids believe in him. I understand that there will be plenty of people that don't agree with me on this topic. I'd love to hear what you think. Just be sure your comments are sweet and kind!
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This is almost identical to what we do. I even let my children see Santa at the mall but a couple of them are too scared which I think is so funny.
ReplyDeleteWe love all the Christmas shows and songs. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" and my children know that Jesus is the reason for Christmas.
However, there is that one verse in Zechariah 2:6 that says, "Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD:"...so you never know!!;)
I hope you have a very merry Christmas season with your family!
pretty much how we do it.
ReplyDeleteI am also trying to teach that it is not kind to just announce 'santa isn't real' in Sunday school :) if someone starts talking about him.
But we know he's not real.
We watch most Christmas movies. even the miracle on 34th street. but our favorite is White Christmas!
and my kids [though not all of them have been exposed] do not really care to go 'see santa'
and we love doing an advent calendar to read the story of Christmas all month!
I let my kids belive in Santa, but they know the real meaning of the holidays that it is about Jesus and we take time on Christmas to give him thanks and to thank him for being born and for dieing for are sins! I think that untill they are ready not to belive then i will leave it at that, and the only reason I tell them there is a Santa is becouse there dad and me are santa we are the ones that deliver the presents on Christmas eve, but I dont have a promblem with parents telling children there is no Santa because that is what they belive and everybody has there right to belive what the want. Hope everybody had a Wonderful and Merry Christmas!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this article. My son is four and I have a hard time with the whole Santa thing. My husband want's my son to believe in Santa and I end up resenting Santa because I feel that he takes away from Jesus. I have always loved Christmas songs and movies and I have several Santa's that I got from Germany. I love them however I have never know how to have fun without taking away from the Lord so thank you so much for this article. I'm going to suggest this to my husband :) Charity
ReplyDeleteI was raised with Jesus and Santa and that is how I'm raising my kids. We do Santa (and the Easter Bunny & tooth fairy) but Jesus comes first. Christmas is magical. The WHOLE Christmas story is magical. God gave us THE gift, we remember by giving gifts to others. The story of Santa fits in here, in caring and giving to others. Idk, it makes sense in my mind :)
ReplyDeleteWe agree! We do 3 gifts to mimic the wise men's gifts to Jesus. St. Nick comes on St. Nicholas Day (German holiday) and leaves stuff in the stocking. Our little girl knows it's us but she gets excited. We read and watch historical St. Nicholas things that day too. Then two weeks later it's Christmas and it's all about Jesus.
ReplyDeleteHi I wasn't brought up believing in Santa, didn't miss it and I didn't bring up my children to believe either. We always told our children it is up to other parents what they tell their children and leave it at that. I have a cousin who when she found out there wasn't any santa asked if there really was a God? I think we teach our children not to lie and when we do that they question anything and everything we say and they cannot see personally.
ReplyDeleteJust my 2 cents worth ;-)
Merry Christmas!!!
My sister and her family have always taught their boy that there is a Santa. He is almost five years old now and this year he asked if Santa Claus is actually Jesus! His momma now regrets ever having done the Santa thing and is trying to gracefully correct the mistake without harming the child's belief in God. Hopefully this helps someone out there who is wondering whether or not to make believe there really is a Santa Claus.
ReplyDeleteWe have not ever done the Santa thing at our home. To me, it is essentially telling a lie to the child and seems silly to expect a child to "excuse" a parent's lie while being taught not to lie (themselves). In Bible College it was brought to my attention that Santa is an anagram for "Satan" and St. Nick (Nicholas) is a demon. Some refer to him as "Father" Christmas, which as a Christian, I also find disturbing.. I have found many stories online of how Santa Claus has similarities to the the pagan god, Odin associated with Yule. Also, how Christmas has been renamed St. Nicholas Day and celebrated on Dec. 6th in some countries. The purpose of Christmas should be to celebrate Jesus and I feel Santa takes away from that (being a lie start to finish). It also bothers me that people promote a "Naughty and Nice" list when there are children who will go without. I don't like it that a child is made to feel like they are "bad" or being punished when unfortunate circumstances lead to them not receiving a Christmas present. We are always glad that we don't have to keep up the same charade as others do with their kids, when Christmas comes around. It's much easier and sensible to just tell the truth and teach the real meaning of Christmas. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
ReplyDelete