Alrighty, friends, I really want your input on this one... Christmas is coming and with that comes Santa. We don't do Santa at our house, but Eli's old enough this year and already asking questions, I need to explain who Santa is. He's been seeing decorations/pictures of him around the stores and asking "Is that Jesus? Who is that?" I casually answer that it's Santa and then change the subject. I want him to know a) where the idea of Santa Claus came from, b) that he's no longer real, and c) that many people like to believe that he's real. And then we continue on with what Christmas is really about--celebrating the birth of Jesus. I want him to know the truth but not walk around blowing the cover to other kids! Of course this is something Kevin and I will have to sit down and discuss, but I thought I'd see if you had any advice to share! How do you explain Santa to your kids?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Answer me this: This is the year!
Alrighty, friends, I really want your input on this one... Christmas is coming and with that comes Santa. We don't do Santa at our house, but Eli's old enough this year and already asking questions, I need to explain who Santa is. He's been seeing decorations/pictures of him around the stores and asking "Is that Jesus? Who is that?" I casually answer that it's Santa and then change the subject. I want him to know a) where the idea of Santa Claus came from, b) that he's no longer real, and c) that many people like to believe that he's real. And then we continue on with what Christmas is really about--celebrating the birth of Jesus. I want him to know the truth but not walk around blowing the cover to other kids! Of course this is something Kevin and I will have to sit down and discuss, but I thought I'd see if you had any advice to share! How do you explain Santa to your kids?
Did you grow up with out Santa as well?
ReplyDeleteIf so, how did your parents do it?
Do you do Christmas gifts at all?
We did do Santa when I was growing up, but I only remember knowing he wasn't real but having fun with it anyway. We still do Christmas gifts, but we make sure we don't talk about them nearly as much as we talk about the story of Jesus birth.
ReplyDeleteWe let the kids have Santa but we focus more on Saint Nicholas when we explain Santa Claus...I just use his history(there are many links out there) and that's basically what they know of Santa. We also focus mainly on the birth of Jesus but we have family that, although Christian, do not celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ. That is what is difficult for us. Not Santa. We just don't make a huge deal out of Santa. We do Santa gifts but we make the focus on baby Jesus. Hope that helps and if I am confusing you, I'm sorry! I will email you about it later. :)
ReplyDeleteWe don't do santa. We told Caleb that some people tell their kids that he brings them their presents, but we told him we give him his presents. We told him it's not something he should talk about to other kids because their parents need to tell them. This is the same thing I had when I was a child. He recognizes him and calls him ho ho ho man sometimes.
ReplyDeletewhen my oldest daughter was about Eli's age she came right out and asked me if Santa was real and we had decided long ago we would not lie about it to our kids - so I told her the truth and that santa is just a fun part of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI have an AMAZING book that I highly recommend to any parent of little ones for Christmastime - it's called the ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Welchel - in it you can read with your kids the real story of santa and it will even point you back to Christ. In fact it uses every element of the holidays and gives it a spiritual meaning. and it has crafts, recipes and games to try too. it's a great resource we use every year with our kids.
as far as santa goes - we just tell our kids not to spoil the surprise for the kids who might not know yet that he isn't real. we also still include santa in our holiday - but just for fun - we will write on their gifts 'from santa' but they know they are really from us.
well sorry this has turned into a book! let me know if you have any other questions and you should get that book - it's only about $6.99 I think! =)
Thanks, friends! I really enjoy hearing how other people do things! And Kathy, I just might have to check into the book! Sounds like a good one!
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough one in today's society isn't it?!?! We teach our kids about St. Nicholas and what he did when he was alive and that Santa Claus is today's version of St. Nicholas. Santa just carries on his mission of bringing smiles to the faces of boys and girls all over the world. We only allow our children to ask "santa" for one gift each year, and then they get three gifts from mommy and daddy to represent the three gifts from the wise men. We try to keep the focus as much on Jesus as possible, while filtering out the pop culture craziness! But as soon as they want to know the truth we'll tell them!
ReplyDeleteOoo, I really like the idea of giving three gifts, representing the three gifts from the wise men! Neat! I was really really wanting to keep our gifts few, just because the kids do not NEED a ton of toys (where would I put them?!), so this just might help make that easier and more purposeful. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWe do "do" Santa in our house. Some presents are from us and some are from the jolly 'ho,ho,ho'. I grew up with both the true meaning of Christmas and the story of Jesus' birth, but also the fun-loving idea that the holiday season is just joyful all around, thus came the cheerful rolly polly guy and his elves.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to maintain our own family values in terms of church and the true meaning of Christmas, but also play into all that surrounds us in society. Children will be engulfed in the sites and sounds of the season so we might as well not ignore it. I think its a great way to encorporate life lessons and make our children that much more worldly.
We don't go to extremes (can't say the same for the grandparents gift giving), but in our little family of 4 we exchange a few fun gifts and then buy something large and would be meaningful and useful for all of us. We also do our best during this time of the year to go out of our way donating and giving to those who may need more than we do. We use that to set the example of giving is better than receiving, plus it just feels good to do it and I'd like for our children to enjoy that as well.