Santa vs No Santa

As I peruse my friend's blogs and other blogs that I stalk, I've noticed a common post this month is the Santa vs No Santa debate. I thought I'd give my 2 cents to my 5 readers who frequent this blog :)

I grew up in a "no Santa" house. I never really felt bitter about it. I knew there would be presents under the tree for me come Christmas morning. However, my brothers and I were the obnoxious kids in the neighborhood who told everyone else there was no Santa. Shame on us!!

Marty grew up in a "Santa" house. He knew how to play the game but he really didn't have strong feelings one way or the other when it came to our kids.

So...we decided we would be a "no Santa" house. To some people this is a terrible form of child abuse and we get many weird looks when we share this with others but, well, we just don't care :) The biggest reason for our decision was that we just didn't want to keep up the lie. There's the initial lie (Santa comes down the chimney....) then you have to follow up that lie with more lies when questions start being asked. And believe me, Hudson has plenty of questions!

Then the argument is raised, "It's not a lie. It's just make believe. Kids love to pretend! It's just part of childhood." Our kids do like to pretend. Hudson pretends everyday that he's a dirt bike rider. Addison is already pretending she's a mommy/princess/ruler of the house. At the end of the day, Hudson realizes he's not a dirt bike rider. It's a clear cut line between reality and fantasy. With Santa, parents go out of their way to make their kids believe he's real. Kid's can't destinguish between reality and fantasy when there is no clear cut evidence of the reality.

The next question that is asked is. "Do your kids still get presents?" Of course they do!! And, might I add, more than they need. Our kids know that Mommy and Daddy buy their presents but they also know why we buy them. If you ask Hudson why we give presents on Christmas, he'll tell you it's because it's Jesus's birthday and he was the best present of all. We want our kids to know that gift giving has nothing to with whether they've been naughty or nice. Jesus didn't come to earth just to save the nice. He came in spite of our naughtiness (is that a word?) and we should in turn extend that same grace to others.

Oh and FYI, we do not judge others when it comes to the Santa vs no Santa debate. I know how fun it is for kids believe in Santa and it's just as fun for parents to play along with them. I'm sure there are plenty of things we do in our family that others find odd. We don't want to be juded because of our convictions and in turn we choose not to judge others for theirs. We are going to teach our kids to respect other's beliefs and not ruin the fun for them. Hudson actually asked me the other day if Santa brought him presents too (we've been watching a lot of Christmas specials this week). I told him that Santa was a fun story about a man who brings presents but that Mommy and Daddy were the ones who bought him presents. I also told him that some boys and girls believe that Santa does bring them gifts and we need to let them believe that because it's fun. Then he asked me if he was going to get a dirt bike so he got over that topic pretty quick!

Which ever side of the debate you fall on I hope that the center of your Christmas doesn't revolve around gifts. Come February, all those nice new presents will be old news to your kids but the real meaning of Christmas goes far beyond what you can buy them. Instilling the truth that Christ came to earth to reconcile the worst of sinners to himself and to give us undeserved grace and love is a far more precious gift than anything you can find at Toys R Us. Our biggest challenge this year is convincing Hudson that the gift of Christ is more precious than dirt bikes!