i was a little dissappointed when my fears were confirmed, but i was like 7 and already knew. i just said, “dad, are you santa?” [i think it was like july at the time] and he said yes, and i said, “and the easter bunny?” “yes.” “oh.”-dissappointed katrina. then alicia said something about “isn’t it great to have parents who love us enough to do that for us” “yeah, it is!” -happy/loved katrina.

personally, i agree with erin. i’ve always loved the “idea” of santa - it’s heartwarming to thing of a man who loves kids enough to devout his whole life to [us]. i think it’s a great way of explaining Jesus.

as to if colby/kennedy will doubt other things you’ve said because of this, i know i never did. it didn’t even dissuade me from believeing everything you and alicia said. [-holding my tongue-]
i suppose it’s different with each child, but also it has a lot to do with how you present it. if you present it as an imaginary “friend” and a game either immediately or when they ask you, it’ll be fine. but, as shala said, presenting it as an ultimate truth will do no one any good.

i like the idea of giving 3 presents. you KNOW mom and dad are going to present santa, so i don’t think the ideal is entirely avoidable [though i also know they would be willing to tone it down if you request it of them]. but i don’t think it would be evil or aweful to leave out a plate of cookies for santa and “let” him leave a stocking with a couple trinkets. [stocking stuffer idea - classical music is great for young minds!]

((okay now i win.))

Yeah I am thinking that you don’t win the award for longest comment ever. In fact I think you might have come in third or fourth…. try again!

As far as the religious/pagan aspect…..we all know by now that Christmas was placed on top of a pagan holiday in order to assimilate pagan cultures. Right, wrong, whatever….Christians need and want to celebrate the birth of Christ. But what’s wrong with also having presents, Santa, Rudolph, etc.? What about SAINT Nicholas - isn’t he Santa Claus? I mean, to me, they can be two totally different aspects of the same holiday - one does not have to exclude the other at all, like hunting eggs at Easter. I look at where I am now in my relationship with God, and I don’t think believing in Santa had one single thing to do with that relationship or my beliefs, for better or for worse. Just like dressing up for Halloween, hunting Easter eggs, and getting money from the Tooth Fairy. But then again, I’m all for fantasy books like Harry Potter too, so….I STILL do not understand how witches, spell casting, talking animals, and Deep Magic can be fine in Narnia but evil in Harry Potter. No matter WHO wrote it, or why.

Ah, a discussion for another day. =)

I can honestly say I’ve never heard of Santa being associated with the likeness of God like commented above. Santa is a symbol of the holiday spirit - giving, peace, graciousness. If/when your child asks you if Santa is real - you would just simply and enthusiastically say “Mommy and Daddy are Santa” and then explain it. Share with them the traditions of the holiday times. Why you’ve chosen to give three gifts instead of 10… If they are upset then talk with them about it.

The Aggie 12th Man stands at Kyle Field not literally being expected to run down on the field at any given time in need but as a symbol of unity and support. Gregg and I view Santa as a “similar” symbol of Christmas time.

Instead of Santa, Clay and I purchase each of the kids 3 gifts as a symbolic message of the gifts the 3 wise men gave.

Rachel and Thomas both hit on reasons of why we came to this conclusion. But growing up especially in my home (and even now) the celebration is not based on Christ so much as it is gifts - which is materialism and consumerism - which is quite contrary to Jesus and His life.

The biggest reason for me questioning this practice in Christmas was how betrayed I felt by my mom when I asked her as a child if Santa was real. Instead of her being truthful - she once again lied to me and told me that he was real She then threatened that if I said anything to any of my brothers or sisters or asked any more questions that I would not get any presents for Christmas. I decided at that point that my mom was lying and that other people around me where more truthful. Even though I have had many friends, that when they asked their parents were truthful about Santa and basically told them they were playing a game of make believe and not to ruin it for their siblings - Clay and I still can not lie to our children even in the name of fun or tradition. It is a necessity that our kids trust us to always be truthful with them.

At the same time, we do not want our kids to feel ripped off because from their perspective we are not letting them have something that is considered ‘good’ by so many kids. So, Santa is not completely banned from our home. We want them to know who he really is – a fictitious character. So just as we read our children fairytale books, princess books, or books about Elmo – we read to them about Santa Claus. But just as we balance the fiction by trying to read just as many stories of truth whether it be the Bible or books based on the Bible or historical accounts – we also read them books about the truth behind St. Nick. We feel that it would be impossible to ignore all the Santa Claus images that they will be seeing all over the place – and we do not want them to be ignorant of who he is and the culture in which they are being raised in. We also have a few Santa Claus figurines and ornaments and when they ask about them – we once again tell them the story about how he came about into being. At this point, Clay and I have determined that when the kids say that want to play make believe (since they are really starting to enjoy pretending) that Santa comes to our house we will let them pretend to be Santa and make each other presents to leave for one another.

Even so with our convictions and choices in the back of my mind at times I wonder ‘Is this choosing the best way with our kids?’ Our prayer for our children is that they will be abandoned to Christ; love Him, His Word, His people, and be willing to follow Him to the ends of the earth. And we feel that making a big production out of Santa Claus – like was done at my house is a bigger distraction from Christ than it is a help. So, my prayer is that God will take all these little steps we take to make Him the center of our lives – and He will honor that and draw our children to Him.

My prayers will be with you as you make that decision because as I shared we found it hard to make – but at this point feel as if we have made the best decision for our family.

The current incarnation of Santa is nothing more than a vehicle for the West’s rampant consumerism and materialism and a distortion of the humble and simple story of St. Nicholas, but I digress.

Finally, I’m not as committed as Rachel is to keeping our children from being ’spoil-sports’. Sometimes the truth hurts, so beware.

Also, that skit Dana Carvey did was circa 86-92, not the 70s! We are getting older, but not that old!

We are firm in our idea that Santa will not be incorporated in any of our family traditions. There are too many similarities between Santa and God–can be everywhere at once, gives good gifts, knows your deeds, rewards them (thought that’s quite distorted). When I found out Santa wasn’t real at the age of 7, I felt lied to by my mother and I remember going down the list, asking if each fictional holiday person was real–the Easter bunny, tooth fairy–and just being more and more upset with her and everyone else for lying about it. The next logical step would be to add Jesus and God to that list of fictional people.

Anyway, all that to say, we don’t think anyone is wrong for doing it, we just won’t and we’ll try to keep our kids from being spoil-sports for everyone else.

A great book I read that got me really thinking about stuff like this (and much more, not just Christmas), is Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noelle Piper. I have a copy I’d be happy to loan you if you’d like to read through the Christmas section.