Santa?

Anne - posted on 12/03/2010

Our daughters are almost 27 and 22 years old. So it has been a LONG time since we have done the "Santa" thing. I was raised in a home that we believed in santa,BUT Jesus was Why We Celebrated Christmas. My husbands family did "santa" also but Jesus was even more important than in my family.

When our daughters were young, we took them to see santa, but they knew we bought the toys under the tree. Santa brought the things in the stockings. I kept the stocking gifts to hair ties, and new socks and under wear. I have to be honest our reason for this was because we were NOT GIVING Santa credit that we worked hard to provide. The girls also knew that "santa" sent us a "bill" that was on our credit card. Now I am not sure if I would add the credit card bill now I really do not know if I would do the santa thing if I had it to do over.

Terri-lee - posted on 12/03/2010

some kids dont actually grow up too fast, they just arent inclined to magic and fantasy. theres nothing wrong with that. different personality types have different things that appeal to them. my step brother always thought santa was ridiculous. He never believed, he was just too logical to believe that a gigantic man could fit down a chimney, and that a man could find time to visit every house in the world. even as a tiny little one, he just was too practical to fall for it. and he still enjoyed childhood. he played games using his imagination, pretending to be a knight slaying a dragon or build tree houses and make up songs etc.
enjoying childhood innocence is so much more than just indulging in false reality of fictional characters :-)

but then there are the kids who are suppressed and opressed by there parents to grow up too fast. They arent allowed to get there clothes dirty, arent allowed to laugh too loud, arent allowed to play make-believe because its "nonsense" its terrible to see a childs creativity stunted. thats something different to believing in something that isnt real. that is in my opinion, abusive to stunt a childs imagination to such a degree that they arent to use their imaginations and be princesses and kings and firefighters and ballerinas.

balance is where its at :-)

Jennifer - posted on 12/03/2010

Carla you are such a blessing!

Carla - posted on 12/03/2010

@Jennifer-I'm sorry your daughter had to grow up so fast. I believe the innocence and wonder of childhood is something almost holy. Let's pray that her heart is touched, and she is able to give herself to childhood, even if for just a little while longer.

And I had to laugh at your misreading Heather's post, cuz I have done the same thing several times!

God bless, all!

Jennifer - posted on 12/03/2010

Heather, I thought the bottom of your post said "Please don;t take this as an attack it's just that I'm right and you are wrong..." LOL. I just thought I'd tell you cause I cracked up when I realized I was mistaken.

Unfortunately in my home my daughter was forced to grow up too fast. My daughter is a cynic through and through. Example: My friend's husband is the son of a magician (card tricks slight of hand etc) and we went out to dinner and Lee started doing little tricks and his 3 kids were laughing and having a great time even if they knew the trick... My daughter just sat and stared, wouldn't even crack a smile then announce, "I know how you did it." My daughter chose one her own that Santa is not real, as well as the tooth fairy and easter bunny. I'm 27 years old and my mom still writes from Santa on gifts for me. In an effort to give her something fun and whimsical to believe we had Santa come to dinner and she played along until he left. As he went out the door she said "Bye Dave!" My daughter humors me, and this year wrote a letter to Santa, then made me do the same. I'd have given anything for my daughter to have just a little bit of whimsy, a little bit of little girl, We celebrate Jesus. We make a cake for Jesus and her brother who doesn't live with us, but we love dearly. We have our traditions and values, we surround ourselves with Jesus and yet, I'd make something up for her to have just a little innocence and childishness back. I understand not wanting to lie to your kids, and I was one who said it too, but a little bit of whimsy isn't going to hurt my daughter... She needs it so much. But all she does is humor me. :)

Terri-lee - posted on 12/03/2010

although i do not pass judgement on families who decide to do the santa thing... i do have my own strong opinion on it...and here it is...

if i tell my children that santa is real, the tooth fairy is real, the easter bunny is real, and whatever else just for a little "fun"....and i also tell them that Jesus is real....

all of these are characters/persons that my child cannot see with there eyes (save a santa in a shop i guess), and adore greatly in early childhood.

then,
the day comes "honey... santa isnt actually real"
then the day comes "dear, the easter bunny isnt real"
then comes "oh and the tooth fairy isnt real"...

will my child be waiting for the day that i tell them JESUS isnt real?

i dont want to give my child any reason to doubt. The Lord is very real. But if I lie to them about all the other "invisible" peoples, how do they know for sure im not lying about Jesus? everything that has seemed to good to be true, up to that point, HAS been to good to be true. sigh.
damaging.

I was raised in a non-christian household. not religious at all. we did santa... and when my mum told me he wasnt real, i was pretty confused as to why she felt she needed to lie to me about some big happy man climbing down a chimney. i thought it was a pretty pointless and actually felt stupid for believing her. It wasnt a huge deal, but i really felt a bit fooled to be honest. and i have friends who felt the same way.

I will teach my children, about the man who was St Nicholas, who gave to the poor children at christmas time. He was a real man and the fantasy of santa clause came from his story. So ill teach them about the real guy... and teach them about the joy of giving. I will also make sure they are not to tell children that santa is not real, as it is not our place to decide how other families do things. but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord, and we will be real with each other.

Christmas can still be "fun" without santa. Stockings are still filled, carols are still sung... but the reason for the season is glorified, not some jolly fictional guy in a red and white suit. lol

Carla - posted on 12/03/2010

@Heather--I'm sorry your experience wasn't as special as mine was. Maybe I was just naive, but I believed until I was about 12! It was a joyous time of innocence, and I wouldn't trade it for anything! One time we were all at my grama's house, and we saw Santa out her living room window. I thought it looked like my uncle, and I knew he was supposed to be out in the kitchen, so I ran out there. We don't know how he did it, but he ran around the house, came in the back door, got the costume off, and was leaning against the stove drinking coffee when we got out to the kitchen! THAT made me believe for quite a few years longer ;)

I love all things children, and the wonder of childrens' innocence is, to me, something to be treasured.

I know we disagree on this issue, and I see your side of it. Each of us raises our children as the Lord dictates to them. You are doing a good job, and I love you!

Heather - posted on 12/02/2010

I'm going to warn you right now that I am on the other side of this. I do not mean this to be rude, or attack anyone, this is just the way I see it. We teach our children about Jesus' birthday. Even before I was a Christian I had decided that I would never lie to my children about Santa. I was the child that was utterly crushed when I found out that he wasn't real. I felt lied to, and worse, I was made fun of because I was so stupid to believe in something that wasn't real. I decided then and there that I would never lie to my children just so I could have fun. They aren't missing anything, as they still get all the things I would buy for them anyway, but they know who they are from. They know that the people in stores dressed as Santa are really people, paid to be there. We keep our focus on Jesus throughout the season.

Everyone has a different take on this. Some Christians don't even celebrate Christmas, I'm not one to judge. I just don't believe lying to my kids for any reason is okay. The Bible says that Satan is the father of all lies, that doesn't exclude the 'fun' ones. Again, please don't take this as an attack or that I am trying to say I am right and you are wrong. This is just the way I see it. I have no issues agreeing to disagree.

Nikkole - posted on 12/02/2010

We do Santa my son is 3 and we talk to him about Jesus and all that to but Santa is just a fun thing for kids i think and some presents are from him and some are from mommy and daddy my kids get a TON for chrismtas tho because there my moms ONLY grand babies and she spoils them but i guess thats what grandmas are supposed to do! But i see nothing wrong with leaving out cookies and milk or writting letters! My husband actually dresses up as santa and walks around the house and when my son sees him we hurry and run to bed and go to sleep its a lot of fun!

Teresa - posted on 12/02/2010

We don't do Santa. Almost all of my friend did/do Santa, but it wasn't something I was comfortable w/ doing. My friend actually wrote a book called 'Santa Celebrates Jesus's Birthday'. It's a good, cute book. Here's a link if you want to check it out. :)
http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Celebrates-J...

Carla - posted on 12/02/2010

I think that sounds very proper, honey. Our daughter does similar, Mama and Daddy buy the bulk of the presents, NOT Santa.

I see nothing wrong with Santa, as long as Jesus is the Focus. We just put up our Christmas tree today with the grandbabies, and we have several Santa figurines that people have given me over the years at Christmastime (I was a mail carrier, and one of my customers always made me a ceramic figurine, or hand-painted an ornament!)--we put these under the tree as decoration. They, in no way, are meant as idols, and the children know Christmas is Jesus' birthday.

Do as you feel is right, honey. God bless