To Santa or not to Santa, that is the question

It’s Christmastime!

It’s the time of year that everyone is more jolly and nice, well except in the comments of some Christian blogs and websites. Instead it can become the season when they argue about the man in red and his role in Christmas instead of focusing on the manger. It’s disheartening, really, that we Christians allow the enemy to drive a wedge over something so trivial.

So without further ado, I will admit it here and explain my families convictions and get my say on this topic: Santa comes to our house on Christmas.

There, I said it.

But, Jesus lives here every day of the year.

I was raised in a Christian home, and my parents “played” Santa with us. And I don’t believe that Santa at all clouded my belief in God, I never felt my parents lied to me when I found out the truth in third grade. I always considered the Santa “game” equivalent to throwing a surprise party, you have to fib in order to really surprise someone and I consider Santa in that category. At 33 years old, I still remember that feeling of surprise and magic when you walk in the living room and realize Santa was there and bought you presents, and I wanted that for my kids. I wanted to see their eyes light up at the sight of a tree that was empty when they went to bed now full of gifts. It’s the one time of year that feels magical and special and seeing the tradition that my parents passed to us, passed on to my kids makes me feel all warm and fuzzy Christmas morning.

With that being said, I want to be clear that our Christmas season does not revolve around Santa and the elves, our main focus is the real meaning of Christmas. No, not the giving instead of receiving, it’s the ultimate gift that we all received that first Christmas.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15

We want our kids to know that without that gift nothing else would even matter. And that it truly was a gift, not something that we deserved or was due to us. So how do you keep the balance in a world that is quickly heading in an opposite direction? Here’s what works for us:

SANTA:

Although we do tell our children (well the 4 year old, anyway) that Santa brings presents, we don’t allow that to get out of control. We tell her that Santa brings 3 gifts because that’s what the baby Jesus got and well, because I don’t want the big guy getting all the credit for our time, money and efforts. We want our kids to appreciate us as well. We don’t want her worshipping him more than just being thankful for what she did get. We also don’t do the naughty/nice thing, but I’ll explain that later. Our philosophy has always been that when they do ask us outright because they hear the whisperings at school if Santa is real or fake that we would tell them the truth. I don’t want my kids to think that I would mislead them about a topic that was important to them no matter how trivial it seems to me. And that worked for C, I think he was 8 years old when he flat out asked us and we told him the truth. We told him that Santa was a game we played with him because of the tradition in our families and we had fun doing it with him and we hoped he understood why. I know that this means that I only get a few years of fun, and for some kids it drags out longer, but I felt like I had 6 years of fun with it, and frankly we were happy it was over in some ways. We could tell him when we were going shopping and why he couldn’t come and not have to worry about being so sneaky anymore. He never asked us if we lied about Jesus, because well, we worship Him all year long, we play Santa for 6 weeks. We asked him to keep the secret for any of his cousins and friends that still believed and he obliged. I feel like 8 years old was a great age for him to find out.I want to point out, too, that we don’t play the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy so we didn’t have to explain those.

ELF ON THE SHELF:

(breath in, breath out)

Last year we gave in and got an Elf on the Shelf, it has only been popular for a few years and A was 3 last year so a great age to start. I had my doubts about doing it, for a few reasons. If you don’t know, the Elf on the Shelf is an elf doll that comes with a book and the purpose is that Santa sends the elf to watch kids if they’re naughty or nice. In the book, the elves fly to the North Pole every night and report to Santa and when they come back they are hiding in a new location. These days the elves do more than just hide, they are usually doing something funny or naughty when the kids wake up. So, we tried to find a way to balance our beliefs with this silly elf and made it our own. We don’t do the naughty/nice thing. We want our kids to do what’s right because it’s right not because the elf is watching or even because their parents/teachers/friends are watching. We want them to learn integrity and honesty as a habit all year long and the naughty/nice bit doesn’t match up. The gifts that God gives us are not based on what we do or don’t do, so why should my gifts or Santa's gifts be different. I came across this post on Pinterest, and it’s what convinced me to give in and do the elf (well, also the fact that I found it on sale for half off at Barnes and Noble. I mean really,$30 for an elf, ain’t nobody got time for that)

This year we used the letter found in that post, and modified it a bit since A is old enough to understand better. And we use the same concepts found in that post, A believes she is supposed to teach our elf, Sugarplum, how to obey and what grace is. So, when she does something naughty, A helps her clean it up and uses the words we use all year to tell Sugarplum that she forgives her. The other day I heard A telling Sugarplum how to be obedient” “Right away, all the way, with a happy heart”

This morning Sugarplum was rocking baby Jesus. (excuse the poor lighting in our cabinet)

It still feels a little weird, because all year long I’m very clear with my kids about what's real and what's pretend in their favorite TV shows, movies and books. But, it’s Christmastime and I do enjoy the fun of hiding her every night. And even after A finds out about Santa, I think it will be fun hiding the elf after the kids go to bed and make them laugh in the mornings for those few weeks. I feel like it brings the excitement of Christmas morning to our home for a few weeks. Especially since all year long there’s always so much rush and work between work and school schedules. It’s nice to slow down and have a little extra fun.

JESUS:

The only Reason for the Season, we celebrate Jesus all year long. But during Christmas we make an extra effort to make sure that the scales are unbalanced in His favor. We do a nightly devotional during the Advent season that’s specifically written to turn our hearts on Jesus and giving.

This year we are doing a devotional from Focus on the Family, it’s actually from last years Christmas magazine. The focus is on the names of Jesus and there is an activity and a reading every night. I made these cards to go with it and we have been taping them to our pantry door in the shape of a Christmas tree.

 

It’s a daily reminder of all the things Jesus was sent to be to us. We also choose to listen to more of the Christ themed Christmas carols, not that we don’t listen to secular music, but again the scales are tipped always more to the other side. A knows every word to Silent Night, Joy to the World and O Little Town of Bethlehem and very few of the traditional kids Christmas songs. She goes to a Christian preschool that shares these same values and that is a blessing to my soul. On Christmas morning we first read the story of the first Christmas out of the book of Luke and pray before opening gifts. When I was a kid my dad always made us brush our teeth and hair before we could open gifts and it would make us so antsy, but it's a sweet memory for me. So I know someday my kids will probably say the same thing about our reading, what a testimony to share with their kids about how Jesus was the first focus of our Christmas morning!

I know this post is extremely long, but it’s a topic that’s close to my heart. And I want to be clear that this may not be the best way to handle Christmas, but this is what works for our family. It's a combination of the convictions and traditions of two parents raised in different homes with different backgrounds. I don’t take issue with those that do it differently and have different convictions, whether you choose to play Santa or not. But, let’s not be divided on what Christmas is truly about and let’s show a lot more of that love and grace that we were so freely given.

Love and Blessings and Merry CHRISTmas!