When I was a kid, we sorta-kinda believed in Santa. Well actually, I don't think I ever really believed. I don't remember any turning points involving believing and suddenly not believing, anyway. But my family had lots of fun with the Santa theme - there were "presents from Santa" under the tree, and my dad would go all out trying to convince my sister and me that Santa had been there while we were sleeping. He stomped on the roof (in the middle of the winter in Alaska - wow, what fatherly love!) while my mom ran in to wake us up and tell us Santa was on the roof. We played along and enjoyed every minute of it, peering out the window and trying to guess where he was on the roof. Well, since my dad was never there when Santa was on the roof, I, being an extremely bright child (lol), must have figured it out. ;-) It didn't stop me from loving every minute of Christmas, though. I think it bonded us together as a family in a wonderful way. I knew my dad would do anything to make us smile, and that meant a lot. One year my dad even set off firecrackers outside our bedroom window (I'm thinking the roof was slippery), and my mom told us that Santa's sleigh was taking off. lol Those are really good memories.
I'm looking forward to the Christmases ahead now that we have a little girl who is sure to be at least as imaginative as her dear mother was as a child. If what I've seen so far is any indication, she's got quite a sense of humor, too. I can't wait to see who she develops into. :-)To Believe in Santa or Not?
There has been some talk in the blogosphere about "lying" to kids by telling them that there is a Santa and letting them believe it. I hadn't thought about it much before now, but I don't believe that letting kids have some magic in their lives is going to ruin them. I don't personally know anyone who believed as a child and is bitter at their parents for letting them believe. I myself don't plan on trying to convince my kids that Santa is real (I won't insist on it). I know one thing, that it's a lot of fun to play pretend. :-)
So what are you telling your children about Santa Claus? Will you let them believe he is real or just have fun with it like I did as a child? Did you believe in Santa when you were little? I would love to hear your thoughts!
5 comments:
OMGoodness, you enjoyed it so let your children enjoy as long as you can. There was always presents under the tree for our daughter from Santa. We also got her a gift from us and made sure it was wrapped in a different kind of paper and different kind of name tag. On our old computer it has a Santa signature and reindeer prints. We used them when we would leave her a note from Santa on Christmas eve. She absolutely loved it.
I spoke to DH before answering and our response is the same. We both remember loving the idea of Santa, but neither remembers really being in him. Maybe at a very little age, but it was always more of a tradition and lesson in remembrance of the man St Nicholas who providing for so many in such a generous way woven into the greatest gift of all with Jesus Christ's birth.
I think with AppleBlossom we will do the same, we'll talk about Santa and carry on the traditions of presents from Santa, but I don't think it will ever really be a secret of who is "acting on Santa's behalf". I think the lesson of gifting is more important than imagining a rotund elderly man in your fireplace.
My childhood was very similar in this way. I don't ever remember believing in actual Santa, but I always pretended to. My mom went to such cute lengths for it and I loved it. My 6 year old is unsure of Santa and sometimes he outright asks us if we put the presents there. I'm not sure how to answer, but I usually tell him that I'm not going to say and it's up to him what to believe.
I plan on letting them enjoy it as long as they want to, but if they ask, I won't lie. I will explain the fun of the Santa concept though, so hopefully they'll still have fun with it even if they're not true believers.
Christmas originated as a celebration for the birth of Christ the Lord! Can anything really be as important as to share the spotlight with him on this day? I am speaking of Santa. But if we don't incorporate Santa, then what about all the presents?? Well, the way my family does it (and this is the way I was raised too) is that we give presents to honor those we love, like the wise men did when they came to celebrate the Lord's birth! And we even started a new tradition that we call "Presents for God." We write down what we want to give to God over the next year - of ourselves. Kind of like a new years resolution, but those are for what you'll do FOR YOURSELF, this is what you will give OF YOURSELF to God! Things like, pray more, praise more, be more thankful - all things that God would LOVE to have of us! Believing in Santa CAN cause harm, like the disappointment of finding out that he's not real, or embarrassment of believing in him when their peers don't anymore, but usually it doesn't end up that way. I don't think it's completely "un-Christian" to believe in Santa, but to me, it just steels the lime light from the one I want my family to think about on that day!
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