Christmas: Santa or No Santa?

I wanted to write this post to show how we celebrate Christmas. This is in no way trying to tell you how you and your family should celebrate but since this is my blog and you are taking time to read it I thought then you might be interested in our way of doing things. So sit back with an open mind to the way other people see things and accept us all as different in our beliefs.

You see, early on, before our children came along, my husband and I determined that we would not "play" Santa Claus for our children. In the beginning after much thought we came to the conclusion that Santa really has NOTHING to do with Christmas. So while writing this I thought I would do a little research on Good Ole' St. Nick (one of his many names) and found something Wikepedia said and thought I couldn't say it any better so I will copy and paste it here and give you the link.
"There has long been opposition to teaching children to believe in Santa Claus. Some Christians say the Santa tradition detracts from the religious origins and purpose of Christmas. Other critics feel that Santa Claus is an elaborate lie, and that it is unethical for parents to teach their children to believe in his existence.[6] Still others oppose Santa Claus as a symbol of the commercialization of the Christmas holiday, or as an intrusion upon their own national traditions.[7]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus

This article is very interesting reading and goes on to give a lot of info about Santa's origins and so forth.

We have explained to our almost 2 year old, 3, and 4 year old that Santa Claus has been made part of the Christmas celebration but he is not real and he is NOT why we celebrate Christmas. We then explain to them that Christmas is all about Jesus being born and it is His birthday that we celebrate. Our children are still young so we have made these past Christmas' simple with simple explanations and simple traditions. As the years come to us we will add more meaning behind the celebration by incorporating different and meaningful traditions. So far we have begun to incorporate these traditions:

Christmas Eve --
  • Our children will each open one gift which will be a new set of pajamas to wear that night to bed (may or may not be Christmas related PJ's). This is just a fun little way to give them anticipation for the day to come.

Christmas Day:
  • Last year, even though the children did not completely understand it, we started the 3 gift "rule" for them. Each child receives 3 individual gifts Each gift is a representation of the 3 gifts the Christ child received from the Magi after he was born, Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.
  • Then there is the 1 big gift that is shared by all which is a representation of God's greatest gift to us as the Savior of the world
  • Then there will be the stockings that they will open which will have a various assortment of little gifts and some candy to enjoy. Stockings are a representation of our Christian walk. When we accept God's greatest gift, the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, our Christian walk (stockings) can sometimes be easy and sometimes hard but along the way during our life we will receive blessings (little gifts). The stocking are a reminder to put our trust in God and walk with Jesus all the time.
As our children grow older we will incorporate other traditions in during our homeschool time so that they will know the meaning behind such traditions and then we will celebrate with Daddy to explain what we learned in school.

So that is how we celebrate. How do you? I would love to know, even if Santa is involved, how you and your family celebrate. So leave me a comment because I would love to hear from ya!

Blessings and Merry Christmas!

Comments

Blessed With 4 said…
That is a great way to do the presents...I like the idea. My two are 3 and 4 and from the beginning we have said Santa is not real. We celebrate Jesus not Santa. People will ask my 4 year old if Santa is coming to her house this year. And she will tell them outright, "No..we celebrate Jesus not Santa." They don't know what to say when she comes out with that.
My husband and I decided before the girls were born that we weren't going to do Santa because we didn't want to lie to our children.
You have a very nice blog. I will be back again :)

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