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| Photo Source: Wikipedia |
We believe in Santa Claus. But for us, he does not live at the North Pole, he does not have elves and he does not have a toy workshop. But Santa Claus exists. He is at every Walmart ringing a bell, he is a prominent actor on TV, he sings songs on the radio and other people sing about him and there are books that tell stories about him!
You see, to deny Santa Claus to children is ridiculous. He "exists" whether we want him to or not. Every year, during the festivities of Christmas, we have little talks about Santa Claus. I just finished a little talk with my four-year-old daughter who has proven over and over that she is not stupid when it comes to Santa Claus.
Many cashiers at department stores will ask my children "What did you ask Santa Claus for for Christmas?" or "What did Santa bring you?" and my daughter just smiles politely and is quiet (for much relief from her mommy!). But just this morning the song, "Santa Claus is coming to Town" came on the radio and she looks at me and says "SEE!!! Mommy, he IS coming!" Here's a little insider look at a "Santa Talk" at our house.
Aimee: "SEE!!!! Mommy he IS coming!"
Me: "Come here sweetheart and let's look at some books!" I pulled out "The Cat in the Hat" and "Sleeping Beauty" two of her favorites and I asked her "Is the cat in the hat real or pretend?"
Aimee: "Mommy! That's silly, cats don't talk!! They are pretend!"
Me: "That's true!! And how about these fairies in Sleeping Beauty?"
Aimee: "No, they are pretend too."
Me: (Knowing this one would be harder for her!) "How about Sleeping Beauty? Is she real?"
Aimee: "Yes, she is real, I saw her!" (she did!)
Me: "Yup, you did see Sleeping Beauty but was she a REAL Sleeping Beauty or someone dressed up to LOOK like Sleeping Beauty?"
Aimee: (pausing to think) "Someone dressed up." (you can see the wheels turning!)
Me: "Santa Claus is just like that - it is a fun story that some people like to pretend is true at Christmas time, but he is just like Sleeping Beauty, people will dress up to look like them to play and have fun just like YOU dress up to look like someone else. There is nothing wrong with that but Santa isn't real, he doesn't bring you presents at Christmas time, that's mommy and daddy's job. But if people want to pretend that Santa Claus is real, it's ok, you can play the game with them, just remember it's just a game."
Aimee: "Ok, mom!"
She bounced off to play as happy as ever with no worries. You see, I know a lot of Christian families who have thrown Santa Claus out of their homes for Christmas and that's fine, that is how they would like to do it. But for us, we enjoy the Christmas movies, the music, and the stories about Santa Claus and we have fun at the Christmas parades when Santa comes by.
Photo Source: Wikipedia
You see, in our minds, Santa gets the same appreciation as Disney Princesses and Bob the Builder and Huckle from Busytown receive. They are fun! They are for the imagination to soar and wander - but it's just that, imagination and God is the one who gave us that beautiful gift.
Now, I am not trying to promote Santa Claus for CHRISTmas, in fact, I'm not a fan. But as a parent, I cannot deny that he "exists" in our society. But I'd MUCH rather my children know and be prepared to handle the references to Santa Claus politely and respectfully to adults but know in their hearts that Santa is just for pretend and the REAL person to celebrate is completely and totally REAL and He gave us and is STILL giving to us the best gifts of all.
Putting Santa Claus in his rightful position as pretend and Jesus in His rightful position as REAL is a most precious gift that you can give to Jesus this CHRISTmas!
Don't forget to come back tomorrow and read more from guest writers about their family traditions that point to Christ and give Him a gift this CHRISTmas! On Christmas Eve through Decmber 26th, we will be having a big blog party to link up YOUR family traditions and pictures of how YOU pointed your family to Christ this CHRISTmas!
May Jesus reign your heart this CHRISTmas!
I read this to my husband & we both really enjoyed & agreed with your point of view. This is the route we will take, too, when the time comes!
ReplyDeleteRight on, Ann! I whole heartedly agree!
ReplyDeletei think the hardest part is keeping your kids from telling other kids that Santa isn't real. how do you respect other families' traditions if they have kids who believe Santa is real and your kids know he's pretend? we're going to do something similar to your viewpoint with our kids, I just don't want him to ruin it for other kids... :o)
ReplyDeleteGREAT POST! We do exactly the same thing. I have a post about it ready too, just haven't posted it yet! =) Santa is the same as Cinderella and Bat Man in our family. They are fictional characters that we have fun with. LOVED your post!
ReplyDeleteAnne - I know exactly what you mean! My mom likes to tell the story about how I was asked by a woman what I had asked for for Christmas from Santa Claus and I INFORMED her by saying "Don't you know that Santa Claus isn't REAL????" the woman looked at my mom and said "YOU are a terrible mother!" The woman stormed off furious!
ReplyDeleteI tell my kids that a lot of people like to play the game and if they want to play, they should go ahead and play to - just remember it's just a game and not real. When the kids get older tho, I will probably just sit down with them and tell them that it is the parents job, not our job to tell their kids the truth about Santa.
Thank you so much for this Ann!!! We are not going to teach our kids to "believe in" Santa either, but I love the balance you bring to it! I had been struggling in my own mind about how to deal with it. I was raised told that Santa is "evil" and now as an adult have strggled with WHY. It's a fun story and as long as we are not teaching it as real I don't think it has to be bad. I love stories like the grinch and want to be able to share them with my children guilt free!!! Thanks for helping me know how to do that.
ReplyDeleteThis has encouraged me so much!!
Ladies, thank you for commenting! I sooo appreciate how what God leads me to write is a blessing and encouragement that will help and leave a lasting impression! Go God!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice! My son's only 2 so it's not an issue yet, but even last year total strangers kept asking me if I was taking him to see Santa at the mall. I would always just say, "uh maybe" even though I had no intention to do it (not to mention it probably would have freaked him out!). :o)
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