Santa Clause

[Gabriel]

What do you tell your kids about him?  When my daughter asked me how Santa could keep track of all the kids in the world because she thought only God was that smart I replied that God must give Santa his info.  Now, am I wrong in letting my kids believe in Santa?  I mean to me it seems like it's all in good fun, no harm.  Some of my peers agree, others do not.  My daughters are 8 and 5.  I don't see that it would be the end of the world if they knew the truth, but last year I pulled a stunt that was quite fun. I set up the presents under tree as if Santa had been there, I placed cookies and egg nog on the table, the night before my girls had hung the "Santa Key" on the front door as we don't have a chimney.  Early Christmas morning my best buddy came over dressed in a Santa suit.  He bent down as if he were placing the last present under the tree.  I went and woke up the girls and brought them to the front of the hall where they could see his back only.  he stood up, took the Santa key out of his pocket, placed it on the table, ate a cookie drank the nog and went back out the front door.  My girls thought this was soooo cool!  they told everybody for a month.  My actions put me in a tight spot, though. While I go to great lengths to educate them on the real reason for Christmas, I wonder if giving in to the santa thing is wrong.  What do you guys think?  Can there be a proper balance between fact and fiction here?

What do you tell your kids?

 

[VOW]

My kids enjoyed Santa in their early years. And it was just as much fun for my husband and me as it was for them! All the secrecy and planning and hiding! I even made sure the Santa presents had different wrapping. I would pull out any wrapping paper that had Santa on it, and reserve that for the Santa presents. My kids probably never knew the difference, but it was fun.

I have known parents who get clobbered with the dilemma of limited funds. The kids want everything, including the moon and stars, and it's heartbreaking when you WANT to give them more, but simply cannot. I solved that question in our house by telling my kids, "Yes, Santa makes the presents in his workshop and delivers them to all the kids everywhere, BUT THEN HE SENDS THE BILL TO MOMMY AND DADDY."

They understood that!


Peace,
~VOW

 

[GraftMeIn]

I always enjoyed stories of santa claus etc....
but now I look at him with completely different eyes. I could go on about a bunch of different reasons we shouldn't be teaching children about him. Instead I'll bring up just one for now...

When Christ returns do you want to be telling your children a lie?

 

[Reformationist]

Originally posted by Gabriel
What do you tell your kids about him?  When my daughter asked me how Santa could keep track of all the kids in the world because she thought only God was that smart I replied that God must give Santa his info.  Now, am I wrong in letting my kids believe in Santa?  I mean to me it seems like it's all in good fun, no harm.  Some of my peers agree, others do not.  My daughters are 8 and 5.  I don't see that it would be the end of the world if they knew the truth, but last year I pulled a stunt that was quite fun. I set up the presents under tree as if Santa had been there, I placed cookies and egg nog on the table, the night before my girls had hung the "Santa Key" on the front door as we don't have a chimney.  Early Christmas morning my best buddy came over dressed in a Santa suit.  He bent down as if he were placing the last present under the tree.  I went and woke up the girls and brought them to the front of the hall where they could see his back only.  he stood up, took the Santa key out of his pocket, placed it on the table, ate a cookie drank the nog and went back out the front door.  My girls thought this was soooo cool!  they told everybody for a month.  My actions put me in a tight spot, though. While I go to great lengths to educate them on the real reason for Christmas, I wonder if giving in to the santa thing is wrong.  What do you guys think?  Can there be a proper balance between fact and fiction here?

What do you tell your kids?

Hey Gabe.  This is a difficult scenario for many parents.  I won't dogpile you and tell you that perpetuating a belief in Santa is the work of the devil because you are not doing it to take glory from God.  I will just tell you what I do with my kids.  I didn't come out and say, "There is no Santa Claus."  What I did do was make a big point of saying, "Look how great God has been to us.  He made it so we could be together.  He blessed us with enough money to buy presents for each other.  He keeps us all healthy.  God is so amazing and we should thank Him for all the wonderful things we have in our lives and pray for those who are not so fortunate."  Basically, I don't focus on the fact that there is no Santa Claus; I just try to put the focus on the fact that every good and perfect gift comes from our Father in Heaven and one of the greatest gifts He's given us is the ability to extend His love to others.

God bless

 

[paulewog]

/me never ever beleived in Santa Clause, it was never a big deal... he knew when his dad was up late at night, er, tidying up the family room

I think it does take the focus off of Christ and God though.I know where the presents come from God's grace in giving my father a good job.

I don't really think I will ever let my kids, if I have any , truly believe in Santa Clause. I think I'd like to make it very clear that it is make believe. If they DO start believing in it, it could be a little hard when they find out he's not real

Besides. Santa wore red. Not orange.

 

[Million Pieces]

I always believed in Santa Claus, but then I was raised in a non-believing home for much of my childhood.

Now with my kids, I con't convince them he's not real!!! They saw a Santa Claus once at hubbie's workplace, and now they just can't be bribed to believe he doesn't exist!! I have actually come out and said, "There is no Santa Claus!", to my 5 year old (I know, horrible horrible mommie), and she just set her little mouth and said, "Yes, there is!"

My parents don't help, though. One year we had Xmas at their place, and my mom made a big deal out of, "Well that old man better not get my floors dirty when he comes in...", and my dad took his big work boots out, got them wet, and stamped a couple of boot prints on the entry-way floor. Oh, brother, the scene that made in the morning.....

To compromise, Santa does the stockings in our house. They know we get them the boxed gifts, the tree-gifts. So the gifts that "Santa" brings are never equal to the gifts we give each other.

I just realized that in using "Xmas" someone is going to get their nose out of joint. The X does not mean taking Christ out, it means using a short form of Christ, the Greek letter chi which begins the word Christ. Call it an initial.

 

[fieldmouse3]

I think Santa is a harmless story....if I had kids, of course, the focus would be on Jesus, but there's nothing wrong with including Santa as a PART of the fun.

 

[Stormy]

What do you tell your kids about him? When my daughter asked me how Santa could keep track of all the kids in the world because she thought only God was that smart I replied that God must give Santa his info. Now, am I wrong in letting my kids believe in Santa?

I do not think it is ever a good idea to lie to your children. When they start asking question it is time to explain the imaginary fun you have been having and ask them if they would like to continue to play along.

To me Santa is the clown at the party.

But we all know how much more important is "The Birthday Boy"

Gosh, I hope that wasn't disrespectful to Christ.

 

[Reformationist]

Originally posted by Stormy
To me Santa is the clown at the party.

But we all know how much more important is "The Birthday Boy"

Gosh, I hope that wasn't disrespectful to Christ.

LOL!  This is actually a cute way of making your point!

 

 

[VOW]

One of the sweetest things I've ever seen was at a "Midnight Mass" which was actually held at 7 PM on Christmas Eve. We lived in Kentucky and the weather was miserable, and Father didn't want parents to have to drag kids out of their beds into the cold, snowy weather, so he changed "Midnight Mass" to "Seven PM Mass."

After he gave the homily, Father asked all the little boys and girls in the congregation to come forward to the creche which was at the front of the Church. The children gathered around, and Father led them in singing "Happy Birthday" to Baby Jesus.

I cried.


Peace be with you,
~VOW

 

[Shane Roach]

My take on Santa.

What I enjoyed was the mysterious appearing of these gifts. It did not really make that much difference to me that it was Santa, I don't think. What I remember quite vividly is what I fool I felt to be like one of the last kids to know that Santa was not real. I remember arguing, "of course he's real, why would someone make that up?"

Well, now I know. ;-p

Point is though, Christmas can be every bit as magical and mysterious without the prop of Santa. I would I think tell the story of Saint Nicholas, which has a very sweet Christian tone to it, and then when the mysterious gifts show up labeled "Santa" just explain that they were gifts given anonymously out of love, just like it says to give from the heart in the Bible, and not from a desire to get something in return. Then when they wise up the only thing they discover is the people who loved them that way all their young lives were their family. No harm in that.

 

[fieldmouse3]

Awwww, what a cute story! When I was younger, I used to write "Jesus' Birthday" on my calendar, and every Christmas, I'd look up at my ceiling and say "happy birthday" to him.

 

[paulewog]

That's cute too

Hmmm. I used to wake up like at 6am on Christmas day (morning). You always seem to be able to get up early when you really want to Anyway. My parents slept in that day, of course. And we couldn't open presents until they were up 'cause they wrote down who gave what so we would remember for thank-you's. So I had to wait for like five hours

 

[LilyLamb]

We don't "do" Santa anymore - we put our gifts under the tree and we fill the stockings on Christmas eve. This year I want to do a "Jesse tree" and have a birthday cake for Jesus.

 

[Mamma4ever]

I am so glad to have found this!!  I have been discussing with my hubby (who is not a Christian) about how I have been feeling GUILTY for telling the kids about Santa.  I have ALWAYS made the biggest emphasis on Jesus (singing Happy Birthday, etc) but I just feel down right bad for the Santa thing.  He thinks we should keep it up because it is fun for the kids.  We have 4.  A 9 yr old a 7 yr old and 2 yr old twins.  The 9 yr old will probably figure it out really soon.  I did at 9, but I was in school.  I homeschool them, so it may take longer.  My mother in law who is a Christian, too, said we shouldn't take it from them, but instead lessen the presents from him.  (I was raised that Santa gives the biggest, best, and MOST presents) so of course I did the same with my kids.  She said just to lessen it and make it where the presents from Mommy and Daddy are MUCH better than Santa's so therefore they will just get to where Santa isn't so "special" anymore.  I think I am going to try that this year.  It has been a little "depressing" for Santa to get all the credit for those awesome gifts anyway, LOL.

By the way, nice to meet you guys, my name is Dawnetta--LOL

 

[Reformationist]

Originally posted by Mamma4ever
By the way, nice to meet you guys, my name is Dawnetta--LOL

Welcome to Christian Forums Dawnetta!

Here's some blessings for you!

God bless

 

[paulewog]

Yay for homeschooling

 

[PastorFreud]

At my house, we celebrate the myth of Santa Claus.  And that's what we call it.  The myth of Santa Claus.  I have explained to my kids the history and the importance of allowing other kids parents to be responsible for teaching their own children.

But, I make it really fun.  On Christmas eve, we always drive around to see the lights.  When we get home, Santa has already dropped by our house!  We open presents and celebrate.  When kids say, "How did this happen?"  I say, "Part of celebrating the myth of Santa Claus."

We also play Santa for others in our community and even secret Santa for some.  The Santa Claus myth is an important one because it shapes and forms our identity in many ways.

We also celebrate a night or two of Channukah, Advent, a night or two of Kwanzaa, and Epiphany in January.  Epiphany is when we exchange gifts with each other.  It really cuts the Christmas price tag down to a fraction.  We have five adopted multi-racial children, so it is important to us to embrace the good we find in every culture.

 

[CarolinaGirl24]

[GLOW=darkred]For me, Santa was always just part of the fun of Christmas. My mom would take me to see him at the mall, and I would get to sit on his lap and get my picture taken with him. But my parents also emphasized the spiritual side of Christmas, too. We went to church the Sunday before Christmas, or on Christmas if it happened to fall on Sunday. I don't think there's anything wrong with teaching kids about Santa as being part of Christmas. It just adds to the excitement for a young child. My young cousins still get excited on Christmas Eve over the thought of Santa and his reindeer landing on the roof. As long as you strike a balance between both worlds what is the real harm in letting the kids have a little fun with a made up character? [/GLOW]

 

[two feathers]

Originally posted by fieldmouse3
I think Santa is a harmless story....if I had kids, of course, the focus would be on Jesus, but there's nothing wrong with including Santa as a PART of the fun.

i agree.