… that is the question.
He’s got twinkly eyes and a tummy that giggles when he laughs, just like me, what’s not to like?
In faith based families the “santa thing” can be blown out of proportion, whether you celebrate with him or not.
Ethically we have no issues with santa. Why? Well, many Christmas traditions people don’t seem to be worried about are taken from pagan holidays: The date – December 25th was the last day of Saturnalia. In the 4th century, Christianity allowed the celebration of the Roman Saturnalia festival by changing the meaning to Jesus’ birth, to help convert the pagan masses. Gingerbread Men – During Saturnalia people would bake human shaped cookies in honor of the human sacrifice on the last day of the festival. Caroling – Singing (naked) in the streets during the festival. Christmas Trees – Pagans who worshiped trees would decorate them and bring them into their homes. This list goes on and on…
Anyway our thought was, if most of our Christmas traditions are derived from pagan traditions, than what is the big deal with santa? Well, some people believe the original pagan origin is pretty crazy (Nimrod)… think baby killer coming down the chimney. Some people think santa origins are Saint Nicolas (we go more in that direction). But the modern version first came around after ‘The Night Before Christmas’ poem became popular.
If the kiddos asked me straight out “yes or no” if santa was real, I would tell the truth, but say we choose to honor the American tradition because of the kindness and legacy of Saint Nicolas and because it’s a fun way to remember the Truth of Jesus’ birth aka fulfillment of Jewish prophecies. We feel we can attach our own meaning to traditions. And since there really isn’t anything new under the sun it’s likely that most traditions from any holiday can be traced back to something yucky. If we didn’t do santa because he isn’t real, then would we not do the tooth fairy, fairy tales, the Easter bunny, or that mouse that talks at the happiest place on earth?
I think what it really comes down to is the fact that I celebrated Christmas with santa as a child, with very little spiritual tie-ins, and my faith in God (or my trust in my parents) wasn’t shattered when I found out it wasn’t real.
Oh, and it’s hella FUN!!!
But as far as what we actually do…
~We don’t have any santa decorations – we use stars, angels and nativities.
~We don’t make an event of going to see santa, but Hot Hubby’s company does santa pictures for free at the Family Company Party and we usually end up seeing santa at other events. I think santa pictures are a fun tradition to see how kiddos grow over the years.
~santa brings the kiddos 3 presents just like the three wise men brought Jesus 3 presents. Last year santa brought the kiddos something they needed, something they wanted and something educational and I tied that into the purpose of the gold, frankincense and myrrh. But it was kinda a stretch, and they really didn’t understand.
~We talk about how Saint Nicolas was a real person – this veggietale was really helpful.
~We haven’t written santa a letter yet… but my kiddos can’t write so we really haven’t had to choose what we will do. A part of me thinks that it is taking the “fun santa thing” just a bit too far and another part of me thinks it would be a great keepsake to see how their writing progresses and what their perspectives were as children.
~We talk about the “tradition of santa” but have never actually said santa was real. Any questions we have gotten usually are redirected to our beliefs – celebrating Jesus’ birth (which we don’t believe was actually on Christmas… whole other post!), prophecy, etc.
~santa doesn’t watch us through the year to see if we are good or bad. He is strictly a present bringer not a behavior judger.
I’d love to hear what you do or don’t do and why!
Below are some interesting Christmas reads. Some are super extreme!!
The Origin of Christmas from Last Trumpet Ministries
The Mystery of the Pagan Origin of Christmas
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Raquel Branch says
We decided to let our kids know that Santa Claus is a fun story that is made up because God gave us an imagination. Every year I go through the stories with them and we talk about them and how they are just for fun and that the true Santa Claus was Saint Nicolas. We have a advent house that they open up everyday in December and they pull out a something about Christmas. Example: Christmas Tree, Ornament, Holly and we decorate. I play Christmas songs that goes along with the Symbol and explain to them how it started out pagan and how when Jesus came he brought truth and light into our dark world and how the things that the pagans worshiped actually all have God’s thumbprint on them because he made them and they all point to him. We do an activity too. On December 6th we Celebrate Saint Nicolas Day. They pull the little Saint Nicolas out of their advent house and we play the songs, read the storie and put on our Santa Hats because what made St. Nicolas so special was how he lived his life for Jesus and we can live our lives for Jesus too. We tell them that most kids don’t know the secret and not to tell them because it’s a fun game their parent are playing with them and it would ruin their fun. That’s our new family tradition and I seem to learn things I never knew about Christmas growing up.
Eli's Lids says
I love love love hearing what other families do! I love that you warn them not to ruin it for other people 🙂
Miss you girl. How are you feeling???
michelle says
I loved your post. We do Santa, but this will probably be the last year since he’s getting older and questioning the whole thing. I like believing in the idea of Santa and the childhood memories I have. We decorate with Santa’s and lots of snowmen (my fav) and we have three (yes, 3)nativity scenes. I have always taught my son the real meaning of Christmas and what we are celebrating. It makes me happy when I ask him what Christmas is all about and he says “the birth of Baby Jesus” – even though we do the Santa thing.
Eli's Lids says
Boo! Growing up is lame. At least I know I have a few more years for the magic to still happen.
Jodie says
Hey KN-
So glad to read this post and find out there are others that feel like “not doing the santa thang” is not a huge deal. Most of the people from my family and where I’m from (the south) think we are kinda weirdos for deciding not to carry on this tradition with our kids. We are essentially doing what you guys have chosen to do = make huge deal out of the meaning of Christmas (Thanks for the Truth in the Tinsel rec!) and not a big deal out of santa. We don’t talk about santa bringing gifts, coming down the chimney, or any of that. I don’t use santa or reindeer wrapping and while I think the Elf on the Shelf is a cute concept, won’t be doing that one either. I kinda believe kids should (try to) be obedient all year round without being told that an Elf reports to someone who decides whether they receive gifts or not at Christmas.
But unlike you, when I found out that my parents lied to me about Santa, I was devastated. It sent the wrong message to me. I felt like I had been played. Maybe that’s just my personality.
On the other hand, my hubs is really worried that our kids will spoil it for someone else’s. So we are not making it a big deal about it it not being true (yet) but definitely not encouraging the fantasy (if that even makes sense!).
Eli's Lids says
How am I just seeing this comment!?!?
Totally makes sense! And totally agree about elf on the shelf. Looks so fun but I’m not willing to put in all that work for a lie.
Jaime says
We don’t teach our kids about Santa, but we don’t discourage them from believing what they hear from the media. I think it’s harmless as long as they know the real meaning of Christmas.
Eli's Lids says
Totally!!
Junglewife says
We don’t “do” Santa at our house. Not because we think it’s pagan or anything. We just don’t do it. My parents never “did” Santa with me when I was little, and although my grew up with the Santa tradition, he didn’t feel strongly enough about it to want to continue it on with our little girls. Although it’s fun, we didn’t want the focus to be on Santa, and also didn’t want to continue the pretense to the point that they question other things we’ve taught them when they would finally find out that Santa wasn’t real. So we read Santa stories and talk about Santa, but the girls definitely know he’s not real. We just don’t make a big deal out of it either way. Thanks for sharing the ways your family is able to have fun with Santa without making him the focus of your celebrations!
Eli's Lids says
I hope my kiddos don’t think it’s a huge deal, I didn’t and my parents went all out for santa.
I love to hear what other people do!!