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Santa Claus or Jesus?
Many believe you have to make a choice between the two, especially when you are a Christian parent and responsible for shaping the mortal soul of your young charges with their impressionable minds. I know many parents who actually take it to the level that believing in Santa is one of those "no other gods before me" all or nothing deals.
I personally believe that in the "WWJD" scenerio, He would don a Santa hat and "Fa-la-la-la-la" with all of us. I think He would highly approve of the Santa figure and all that he represents.
- Giving
- Jollyness
- Holds the "Naughty" and "Nice" accountable
- Family
- Fellowship
I believe that is is possible to allow children to believe in Santa and believe in Jesus. A healthy balance of religion and magic. All little children grow up into the adults that rush around making Christmas perfect for their family, putting together impossible toys where the instructions are only in Chinese and trying to balance the budget come January 1st. Why not allow them a little magic of snowflakes, reindeer bells and half eaten cookies by the fireplace? If your home is filled with Jesus the other 364 days of the year; they are not going to lose sight of that fact because of a little "ho-ho-ho". Jesus is not going to be run over by a reindeer (although I have heard rumor that Grandma will be if she gets sauced on eggnog) and that magic sparkle that happens as they dash to the tree to see what was left just for them is irreplaceable as a parent.
Allowing a child to believe in Santa is not irresponsible or a sin. It's just a twinkle of time in their lives before they face the real world. As it becomes age appropriate the "truth" will reveal itself in time and they will understand the difference in Santa Claus and what the Spirit of Christmas truly is.
7 comments:
I never lie to my kids, because I do believe in Santa Claus. Santa is the spirit of giving to others and thinking of them before yourself. That is what Christmas represents. God thought of us and gave His son. We give to each other to enrich their lives, yes it is definately more than merchandising, but as long as people are helping each other and giving of themselves to help people less fortunate than they are, Santa is real and does exist.
Amen sista!!! I agree with you, as a Christian I raise my kids to know why we celebrate CHRISTmas, but I also want them to have some childhood memories and remember when they believed in Santa! They can have the best of both worlds!
Good post! And thanks for leaving a very cute comment on my blog about the little princess! ;D
Suzanne
Very thoughtful post. I totally agree! We do both, talk about Jesus and his birth, and let the boys believe in Santa.
I love your perspective on this!
yes, that is true... tho we do not do Santa ... we do St. Nick on Dec. 6th...
But either way... Jesus is the reason for the season and if you believe this your kids will to.
Totally agree. We actually have one of the Uncle's dress up as Santa on Christmas Even when all the relatives get together and then Santa tells the story of when Jesus was born. The kids love it and they even get a present from Santa.
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