Santa Ain't Coming Down this Chimney

I know, my poor depraved children. They will surely someday resent us for stripping them of this childhood fantasy ;-). But none the less, we have chosen to not "do" Santa with our kids. I mentioned that in a previous post, and I thought I would share a little more about it.

I was slightly conflicted over making an official decision on this, but to be honest the whole Santa thing has never really come naturally to me anyway. Perhaps it's because we never did Santa when I was a kid either ( and I guess I turned out okay=) In our house, we always just knew that Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy were AKA- Dad.

Why take this beloved tradition away from our kids? There are a couple explanations.

First off let me say, we are not shunning Santa Claus. If the kids are talking about Santa I don't hush them up. I haven't come out and said "There is no such thing as Santa". Basically so far, it has only consisted of us not telling them that Santa is coming down the chimney and bringing them presents. I realize what was easy to just avoid, as they get older, is becoming a little more tricky. The other day HG said to me "Santa lives at the North Pole!" My reply was simply "Oh, he does, does he?" Kind of like if she were to say "Mommy, Peter Pan lives in Neverland!" I wouldn't say "Hannah, Peter Pan doesn't exist." Because the story of Peter Pan does exist, as does the story of Santa Claus. Phew, that was easy enough. But then came the reindeer food that came home with them the other day. Hannah told me we would put it in the yard for when the reindeer came. I am still thinking of the best way to handle that one. It was funny, as I knew I was going to post on this, our Sunday school class sent out an email with this article that couldn't be more relevant....
http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mark_driscoll/2010/12/what_we_tell_our_kids_about_santa.html
And I agree with the author, Mark Driscoll, that we can "accept Santa as a symbol of Christmas spirit" and that it is great fun to dress up like him, visit him (like we did at Alpine Village the other night), and enjoy the folktale- without coming out and lying to our kids. That is reason #1 we are opting out of Santa. One of our old pastors and a big mentor in Ryan's and my life told us a long time ago that they didn't want to tell there kids Santa was real and then expect them to turn around and trust us that Christ is real. In all practicality most people who believe in Santa as a kid don't reject the reality of Christ as a result, but none the less, I think it is worth our consideration, and is a point that Driscoll touches on as well. I love how he clarifies...

"...we distinguish between lies, secrets, surprises, and pretend for our kids. We ask them not to tell lies or keep secrets, but do teach them that some surprises (like gift-giving) and pretending (like dressing up) can be fun and should be encouraged. We tell them the truth and encourage them to have fun watching Christmas shows on television and even sitting on Santa's lap for a holiday photo if they so desire."

Me, Lindsey, and a hi-jacked dog sitting on Santa's lap- despite my parents choice to not convince us that Santa snuck into our house on Christmas Eve. Mom, why did Lindsey not have to rock the bangs and I did? Not fair, I tell you!

My other reason is pretty simple. I feel like it is already hard enough to get them to grasp what Christmas is really about in all it's glory. The idea of Santa is just naturally appealing to kids and getting wrapped up in that bit of Christmas is so easy. So I feel like to keep us less distracted from the true miracle of Christ's birth, not encouraging focus on a false miracle of Santa is beneficial to us all.
 
(Edit: Ryan wanted me to insert reason #3.. he doesn't want Santa taking all the credit for his labor of love present buying. Ha, he's kidding of course.. I think...;-)


So there you have it kids.... that is why Santa doesn't come down our chimney. We really do want to always be honest with our kids, and if that means no presents from Santa, we are willing to pay that price. (All while fully embracing the fun of Christmas).