Why Our Family Is Choosing Not To Celebrate Santa Claus
November 18th, 2008
Here are the reasons our family is choosing to abandon the tradition of Santa Claus:
1. Santa Claus has become an idol to many children, and we don’t want our children having any gods before the Lord.
2. The obvious one – the tradition of Santa Claus takes away from the real meaning of Christmas and promotes getting, not giving.
3. We want our children to trust us. If tell them year after year that Santa is real and you just have to believe, and they one day find out you lied to them and he isn’t real, it is not only crushing, but dangerous ground when it comes to their belief in God. Perhaps, they think, that God isn’t really real either.
Yes, I celebrated Santa Claus with my family as a child and I have wonderful memories (I could have sworn I heard reindeer on my roof every Christmas eve!) I also remember crying when I found out he wasn’t real…and even then I continued to believe because I wanted so badly for him to be real.
Also, we are not sheltering our children from Santa Claus; they know who he is, we watch Santa Claus movies, etc., we just treat him like any other fictional character, that’s all.
I know that many Christian families choose to incorporate Santa Claus into their Christmas traditions, and you won’t find any judgment here! We also realize that to many we are horrible parents (hi dad, love you!) denying our children of the fun and wonder of Christmas, however, we think the fun and wonder comes from the anticipation of celebrating the birth of Jesus and His coming again one day.
How did you find out there was no Santa Claus? And be honest, how old were you (I believed until I was probably eleven!)
Good morning! :)
Good morning! :)
I’m not even sure if I ever really “believed” in Santa. My parents always put gifts from Jesus instead. My oldest who is now 15 believed in Santa because of my ex husbands parents and when she asked me one day if there was one I had to tell her no because I didn’t want to “lie” to her. They were mad but whatever. I’m her Mom and that’s that! LOL! My two boys haven’t been raised believing, we only treat him as a fictional character as well. I love Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer just as much as the next gal.
We have started doing the Jesse Tree Advent devotionals for Christmas and that is such a nice way to bring Christ to the forefront. I love your honesty my friend and I’m right there with you.
Hugs.
Kim
I’m not even sure if I ever really “believed” in Santa. My parents always put gifts from Jesus instead. My oldest who is now 15 believed in Santa because of my ex husbands parents and when she asked me one day if there was one I had to tell her no because I didn’t want to “lie” to her. They were mad but whatever. I’m her Mom and that’s that! LOL! My two boys haven’t been raised believing, we only treat him as a fictional character as well. I love Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer just as much as the next gal.
We have started doing the Jesse Tree Advent devotionals for Christmas and that is such a nice way to bring Christ to the forefront. I love your honesty my friend and I’m right there with you.
Hugs.
Kim
i think my parents did the same thing you guys are doing bc i do not remember ever believing that Santa was real. We did stockings and knew about the character, but it was always just a fun game i guess – if that make’s any sense! – hey, it’s early :) hope your 5am was fabulouse :)
i think my parents did the same thing you guys are doing bc i do not remember ever believing that Santa was real. We did stockings and knew about the character, but it was always just a fun game i guess – if that make’s any sense! – hey, it’s early :) hope your 5am was fabulouse :)
I really don’t remember when I actually figured it out. Maybe around age 8 or so? I remember finding the packaging for a set of doll furniture that I received as a give (Santa’s gifts were always unwrapped under the tree).
I figured that there was no way Santa would bring a toy in it’s original packaging. I did play along for another year or so because I didn’t want my mom to be upset. Weird, huh?
I was up at 5AM! Woo hoo!
I really don’t remember when I actually figured it out. Maybe around age 8 or so? I remember finding the packaging for a set of doll furniture that I received as a give (Santa’s gifts were always unwrapped under the tree).
I figured that there was no way Santa would bring a toy in it’s original packaging. I did play along for another year or so because I didn’t want my mom to be upset. Weird, huh?
I was up at 5AM! Woo hoo!
Good for you! I grew up knowing that Santa Claus was not real. We also didn’t acknowledge the tooth fairy or the easter bunny. My child hood most certainly did NOT suffer because of this, and it bothers me when people insinuate things like that.
My husband and I have decided to take a similar approach as you have. We see Santa in the mall, watch movies, etc. and our kids get one “santa gift” but we do not ever acknowledge that he is real. We think of him more as a fun thing to talk about on Christmas but that is all.
Good for you! I grew up knowing that Santa Claus was not real. We also didn’t acknowledge the tooth fairy or the easter bunny. My child hood most certainly did NOT suffer because of this, and it bothers me when people insinuate things like that.
My husband and I have decided to take a similar approach as you have. We see Santa in the mall, watch movies, etc. and our kids get one “santa gift” but we do not ever acknowledge that he is real. We think of him more as a fun thing to talk about on Christmas but that is all.
Oh, Sarah Mae, this is a tough subject for me, as well. We do not “do” Santa Clause either. We just look at him as any other fictional character like Mickey Mouse. However, this year, I struggle with Christmas altogether. It’s roots are pagan and Jesus was not even born in Dec. It would have been more like Oct. Plus, Jesus never celebrated birthdays. He celebrated Biblical Feasts. I don’t think He has commanded us to celebrate His birthday. We have really been studying Mark 7:6-9 about the traditions of man vs. the commandments of God and I wonder if “Christmas” and all her commercialism and meism is not just another tradition of man. We will probably do things as we normally do this year but it is such a struggle to know what is the “excellent” thing to do here.
Oh, Sarah Mae, this is a tough subject for me, as well. We do not “do” Santa Clause either. We just look at him as any other fictional character like Mickey Mouse. However, this year, I struggle with Christmas altogether. It’s roots are pagan and Jesus was not even born in Dec. It would have been more like Oct. Plus, Jesus never celebrated birthdays. He celebrated Biblical Feasts. I don’t think He has commanded us to celebrate His birthday. We have really been studying Mark 7:6-9 about the traditions of man vs. the commandments of God and I wonder if “Christmas” and all her commercialism and meism is not just another tradition of man. We will probably do things as we normally do this year but it is such a struggle to know what is the “excellent” thing to do here.
Good morning – I was a little late getting up again this morning! I did wake up at 5, but my brain didn’t fully realize for several minutes that I was supposed to actually get out of my bed! :) So we’ll call it 5:15.
We don’t do Santa Claus either! I stopped believing in Santa when I was 7 and being a bossy, know-it-all sort of child, I then proceeded to tell all of my second-grade classmates that Santa wasn’t real! I felt it was my duty to spread that info around! I found out years later that my mother received a few phone calls from upset parents – oops!
We have always put the focus on Jesus instead and try not to give very many gifts. When we made the decision not to do Santa, my son was just a baby. I actually had a collection of Santas for decoration and gave them all away.
Like Mrs. Trixi though, we have had the same struggle with the Christmas celebration. Our Pastor does not celebrate it for the very reasons she mentioned. We are still celebrating it, but our son is aware that it is not actually when Jesus was born, but that it is the day that our culture celebrates it. We try to remember that we should be celebrating Jesus’ birth the whole year, not just on one day!
Thanks for your brave post and I am glad to know I have company!
Hugs to all!
Good morning – I was a little late getting up again this morning! I did wake up at 5, but my brain didn’t fully realize for several minutes that I was supposed to actually get out of my bed! :) So we’ll call it 5:15.
We don’t do Santa Claus either! I stopped believing in Santa when I was 7 and being a bossy, know-it-all sort of child, I then proceeded to tell all of my second-grade classmates that Santa wasn’t real! I felt it was my duty to spread that info around! I found out years later that my mother received a few phone calls from upset parents – oops!
We have always put the focus on Jesus instead and try not to give very many gifts. When we made the decision not to do Santa, my son was just a baby. I actually had a collection of Santas for decoration and gave them all away.
Like Mrs. Trixi though, we have had the same struggle with the Christmas celebration. Our Pastor does not celebrate it for the very reasons she mentioned. We are still celebrating it, but our son is aware that it is not actually when Jesus was born, but that it is the day that our culture celebrates it. We try to remember that we should be celebrating Jesus’ birth the whole year, not just on one day!
Thanks for your brave post and I am glad to know I have company!
Hugs to all!
I was in 6th grade, so I was also 11. My uncle had dressed in a Santa Claus outfit and delivered our presents when I was 6, and I heard his jingle bells and saw him! How can you argue with what you’ve seen? I was the last of my friends to believe, and I finally sat my mom down and had “the talk”. I wasn’t crushed. More embarrassed. After all, my younger sister already knew the truth and was keeping her secret from me!
I was in 6th grade, so I was also 11. My uncle had dressed in a Santa Claus outfit and delivered our presents when I was 6, and I heard his jingle bells and saw him! How can you argue with what you’ve seen? I was the last of my friends to believe, and I finally sat my mom down and had “the talk”. I wasn’t crushed. More embarrassed. After all, my younger sister already knew the truth and was keeping her secret from me!
Hello Sarah! You come up with the best topics to discuss!
My family actually didn't even celebrate Christmas for the first 7 years of my life for the very reasons listed above. We lived overseas where families don't exchange gifts so it never seemed odd to me. The focus was on the birth of Jesus and sharing a nice meal with family and friends and it never occurred to me that us kids were getting 'jipped' out of gifts. I didn't even know that is how kids my age all over the US celebrated Christmas! Growing up, it was a day of community outreach as well. Many people are open to the Lord on that day and we had special activities for the neighborhood children. The focus was so different than it is here where it is a very private 'family only' day of gifts, gifts, gifts!
So I never grew up believing Santa Claus is real and am grateful for that… My daughters–who are 5–are hearing all kinds of stuff regarding Santa at school and have asked me several times if he is real or not in the last couple weeks! Of course, I explain he is not real, just a fun, jolly ole' character! :)
I do think it's important to commemorate the birth of Jesus, especially with our children, and it's possible to do without getting caught up in the mayhem that is Christmas these days. I am already teaching my children that we focus on the gift of God to the world and because God gave His best gift, we give gifts to others. I do not focus on having my children write Christmas wish lists [there's enough of that going on around their birthday!]. Instead, we talk about what we can give to others.
Another thing my husband and I try to stick with is limiting the number of gifts per child. In the past we have given 5 gifts–I would love to get it down to 3–plus a stocking full of odds & ends.
We are right with you–we choose not to celebrate Santa Claus either…nor the way Christmas is being celebrated in the US currently! We are celebrating by our own rules. :)
Hello Sarah! You come up with the best topics to discuss!
My family actually didn't even celebrate Christmas for the first 7 years of my life for the very reasons listed above. We lived overseas where families don't exchange gifts so it never seemed odd to me. The focus was on the birth of Jesus and sharing a nice meal with family and friends and it never occurred to me that us kids were getting 'jipped' out of gifts. I didn't even know that is how kids my age all over the US celebrated Christmas! Growing up, it was a day of community outreach as well. Many people are open to the Lord on that day and we had special activities for the neighborhood children. The focus was so different than it is here where it is a very private 'family only' day of gifts, gifts, gifts!
So I never grew up believing Santa Claus is real and am grateful for that… My daughters–who are 5–are hearing all kinds of stuff regarding Santa at school and have asked me several times if he is real or not in the last couple weeks! Of course, I explain he is not real, just a fun, jolly ole' character! :)
I do think it's important to commemorate the birth of Jesus, especially with our children, and it's possible to do without getting caught up in the mayhem that is Christmas these days. I am already teaching my children that we focus on the gift of God to the world and because God gave His best gift, we give gifts to others. I do not focus on having my children write Christmas wish lists [there's enough of that going on around their birthday!]. Instead, we talk about what we can give to others.
Another thing my husband and I try to stick with is limiting the number of gifts per child. In the past we have given 5 gifts–I would love to get it down to 3–plus a stocking full of odds & ends.
We are right with you–we choose not to celebrate Santa Claus either…nor the way Christmas is being celebrated in the US currently! We are celebrating by our own rules. :)
I was up at 6am, but I was up!!
We grew up getting gifts from Santa, but I don’t remember actually believing in him. We do Santa over here but oh the discussions that we have had. My hubby loves the magic of the kids getting up and seeing gifts. I don’t have a problem with doing gifts, but wonder if they could just know they were from us? But how do you stop when the kids are almost 7 and 5 and believe? It’s a huge deal to hubby and his family?
I was up at 6am, but I was up!!
We grew up getting gifts from Santa, but I don’t remember actually believing in him. We do Santa over here but oh the discussions that we have had. My hubby loves the magic of the kids getting up and seeing gifts. I don’t have a problem with doing gifts, but wonder if they could just know they were from us? But how do you stop when the kids are almost 7 and 5 and believe? It’s a huge deal to hubby and his family?
Wait….Santa isn’t real? MAN! hehe jk
I found out in 2nd grade that he isn’t real. My sister was a baby so my mom was getting the stroller out of the trunk of the car and I saw a BARBIE DREAM HOUSE in the trunk. I didn’t mention a word of it to my mom because I knew she would be sad if I saw my present. So then Christmas morning comes and low and behold look what i got from Santa. A barbie dream house.
Maybe the fact that I got the dream house cushioned the blow of me figuring out that my parents were santa.
Wait….Santa isn’t real? MAN! hehe jk
I found out in 2nd grade that he isn’t real. My sister was a baby so my mom was getting the stroller out of the trunk of the car and I saw a BARBIE DREAM HOUSE in the trunk. I didn’t mention a word of it to my mom because I knew she would be sad if I saw my present. So then Christmas morning comes and low and behold look what i got from Santa. A barbie dream house.
Maybe the fact that I got the dream house cushioned the blow of me figuring out that my parents were santa.
I can’t really remember how old I was.. but I remember that it never “made sense” to me. I was a pretty practical child. My dad explained that Santa was just a fun game that we played to give gifts without giving ourselves “credit” for them.. Looking back the concept makes sense except for I’d much rather give Christ credit for the inspired giving, lol.
I woke up at my aspired 6am this morning but a little munchkin crawled in bed to cuddle and I couldn’t pass up that opportunity! I’m making progress though.
I can’t really remember how old I was.. but I remember that it never “made sense” to me. I was a pretty practical child. My dad explained that Santa was just a fun game that we played to give gifts without giving ourselves “credit” for them.. Looking back the concept makes sense except for I’d much rather give Christ credit for the inspired giving, lol.
I woke up at my aspired 6am this morning but a little munchkin crawled in bed to cuddle and I couldn’t pass up that opportunity! I’m making progress though.
I don’t remember! I really have NO clue! I’ve always been a little slow, so it was probably later then most, LOL. I remember swearing to my mom that I heard the elves on the roof!
I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas. I need time to adjust! {granted, I am in so cal. and it’s like 90 today}.
I don’t remember! I really have NO clue! I’ve always been a little slow, so it was probably later then most, LOL. I remember swearing to my mom that I heard the elves on the roof!
I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas. I need time to adjust! {granted, I am in so cal. and it’s like 90 today}.
i discovered a few years ago that my son’s birthday, december 6th, is also st. nicholas day. there are a few nice websites that go into the details of the “original st. nick”. so we take the time on this day to explain who the historical figure really was (just like you would on washington’s birthday) and how that turned into today’s santa clause (thanks to cocacola) ;) we simple teach that st. nicholas’s heart was to give to the poor and that is also our goal at christmas time. we put christ at the forefront during advent and christmas so much so that we don’t really have to worry about avoiding santa. the kids are going to see him everywhere and after we talk about st. nick they have a better understanding of who he really was.
i discovered a few years ago that my son’s birthday, december 6th, is also st. nicholas day. there are a few nice websites that go into the details of the “original st. nick”. so we take the time on this day to explain who the historical figure really was (just like you would on washington’s birthday) and how that turned into today’s santa clause (thanks to cocacola) ;) we simple teach that st. nicholas’s heart was to give to the poor and that is also our goal at christmas time. we put christ at the forefront during advent and christmas so much so that we don’t really have to worry about avoiding santa. the kids are going to see him everywhere and after we talk about st. nick they have a better understanding of who he really was.
I believed WAY too long. I think I was 10 and the LAST of my friends to find out.
My mom told me that those attraction spotlights (the ones that you can see in the sky when there’s a big event in town) were Santa watching me…all year long. Then one day, we drove RIGHT PAST one and I asked the tough question. My mom could have continued to play along, but I seriously had to have been 9 or 10, so she told me the truth. I don’t remember this, but she says she asked, “Are you okay?” as I looked out the window in silence and all she saw was a single tear falling down my cheek.
How SAD is that?!?!?
My husband and I have gone back and forth on this issue since we got married and didn’t even have kids yet. I’ve recently heard of the idea of doing “St Nicholas Day” which explains the legend of Santa, that he was a Christian and gave to those in need, just like Jesus. I think you’re supposed to celebrate it on his birthday which was Dec 14 or somewhere around there. Then after that, it’s ALL about Jesus!
I believed WAY too long. I think I was 10 and the LAST of my friends to find out.
My mom told me that those attraction spotlights (the ones that you can see in the sky when there’s a big event in town) were Santa watching me…all year long. Then one day, we drove RIGHT PAST one and I asked the tough question. My mom could have continued to play along, but I seriously had to have been 9 or 10, so she told me the truth. I don’t remember this, but she says she asked, “Are you okay?” as I looked out the window in silence and all she saw was a single tear falling down my cheek.
How SAD is that?!?!?
My husband and I have gone back and forth on this issue since we got married and didn’t even have kids yet. I’ve recently heard of the idea of doing “St Nicholas Day” which explains the legend of Santa, that he was a Christian and gave to those in need, just like Jesus. I think you’re supposed to celebrate it on his birthday which was Dec 14 or somewhere around there. Then after that, it’s ALL about Jesus!
We decided even before Kiddo was born that Santa Claus would not be the focus of our Chrismases. All the things he gets for Christmas he knows come from us, even the ones left unwrapped on Christmas morning. We even told him where the legend of Santa Claus came from and about the real St. Nicolas.
While I remember a few Christmases from when I was a child, what brings me the most joy, and I have the best memories of, is giving. Gifts I’ve given my husband, my child, my Mom, my Dad, and many others. I get so much more of a blessing giving than I do getting. I want to instill that into my son.
We decided even before Kiddo was born that Santa Claus would not be the focus of our Chrismases. All the things he gets for Christmas he knows come from us, even the ones left unwrapped on Christmas morning. We even told him where the legend of Santa Claus came from and about the real St. Nicolas.
While I remember a few Christmases from when I was a child, what brings me the most joy, and I have the best memories of, is giving. Gifts I’ve given my husband, my child, my Mom, my Dad, and many others. I get so much more of a blessing giving than I do getting. I want to instill that into my son.
We don’t do the Santa Claus thing here either.
And for the same reasons as you. But mostly reason #3.
We don’t do the Santa Claus thing here either.
And for the same reasons as you. But mostly reason #3.
I still believe in SANTA!! SANTA is about love and giving, the spirit of Christmas!
I grew up celebrating Saint Nicolas Day, which is Dec 6, or Santa’s bday. I also received presents from Santa.
I still believe in SANTA!! SANTA is about love and giving, the spirit of Christmas!
I grew up celebrating Saint Nicolas Day, which is Dec 6, or Santa’s bday. I also received presents from Santa.
We never believed in Santa and it was never a big deal growing up. I have always been very careful to teach my kids that Santa isn’t real but family members and the rest of the world are out to prove me wrong. When my oldest was in preschool he came home from school and told me that I was a lier. It seems his teacher had told him all about Santa and he felt I had been hiding it from him!!! It is a struggle each Christmas to balance things and keep the truth of God’s gift at the forefront of our celebrations while aknowledging alternative worldviews and not disparaging them.
We never believed in Santa and it was never a big deal growing up. I have always been very careful to teach my kids that Santa isn’t real but family members and the rest of the world are out to prove me wrong. When my oldest was in preschool he came home from school and told me that I was a lier. It seems his teacher had told him all about Santa and he felt I had been hiding it from him!!! It is a struggle each Christmas to balance things and keep the truth of God’s gift at the forefront of our celebrations while aknowledging alternative worldviews and not disparaging them.
I am Laura’s mom from “10 Million Miles” Though Santa was a huge Christmas figure in my childhood, I had no problem ditching him for the awesome Christ who gave Himself for me! Like you, I allowed Ol’ St. Nick to be a ficitonal and fun character in the season, but my children knew it was just for fun. Santa was no big deal! They received their gifts from us because we loved them…not because they were good or bad. This helped to point to the gift of salvation freely offered in Christ!
I am Laura’s mom from “10 Million Miles” Though Santa was a huge Christmas figure in my childhood, I had no problem ditching him for the awesome Christ who gave Himself for me! Like you, I allowed Ol’ St. Nick to be a ficitonal and fun character in the season, but my children knew it was just for fun. Santa was no big deal! They received their gifts from us because we loved them…not because they were good or bad. This helped to point to the gift of salvation freely offered in Christ!
I believed until I was 10 or 11, really a long time. The reson I held out so long was when I was 6 my mom and my aunt did this thing where we went out light looking on Christmas eve and then when we dropped my aunt and cousins off at their house “Santa” had already come. Since in my child mind the adults had been at my Granny’s house all day Santa had to be real. I think as I got older I began to see the implausibility of it all. I was very sad when I finally asked my mom for the truth.
My mom enjoys doing the presents so I still get something from Santa.
I don’t remember having any confusion about the true meaning of Christmas though because my mom always told us that Santa wanted to give gifts to children to remind them about G-d’s love and the gift of Jesus.
I think it is just the same as when you pretend anything else (princesses, firefighters,camping in the living room, etc.) with your kids. We don’t have children yet (where in the middle of the adoption process) but we will do Santa. I will tell my kids the same thing my mom told me so they know that everything at Christmas is about Jesus.
I believed until I was 10 or 11, really a long time. The reson I held out so long was when I was 6 my mom and my aunt did this thing where we went out light looking on Christmas eve and then when we dropped my aunt and cousins off at their house “Santa” had already come. Since in my child mind the adults had been at my Granny’s house all day Santa had to be real. I think as I got older I began to see the implausibility of it all. I was very sad when I finally asked my mom for the truth.
My mom enjoys doing the presents so I still get something from Santa.
I don’t remember having any confusion about the true meaning of Christmas though because my mom always told us that Santa wanted to give gifts to children to remind them about G-d’s love and the gift of Jesus.
I think it is just the same as when you pretend anything else (princesses, firefighters,camping in the living room, etc.) with your kids. We don’t have children yet (where in the middle of the adoption process) but we will do Santa. I will tell my kids the same thing my mom told me so they know that everything at Christmas is about Jesus.
I celebrated the Dutch tradition of St. Nicholau s, a fourth century bishop (dressed in red) who loved the poor and children. St. Nicholaus still comes to Dutch children and to our church, to
teach us to give, to be his helper when we see someone lonely or sad. This St. Nicholaus we never outgrow Peace and blessings, Christmas Carol
I’m here from (in)courage. I enjoyed reading your post there and this one about why you don’t do Santa Claus.
I grew up with Santa. I remember being 8 years old in third grade when a smarty pants little boy told everyone in class one day that Santa wasn’t real. I argued just as long and loudly as anyone. But I had had my doubts for a while. I was a practical child and Santa just didn’t make sense to me. I played along that year. After that, I gave my mama a hard time about not telling my younger sister who was only 4 at the time! I remember rolling my eyes when my parents would mention Santa. And I remember the LOOK I would get from Mama when I pushed too far.
When I became pregnant after four years of infertility problems, my husband and I thought long and hard about how we would raise our children. Home schooling was decided on (we’re still doing that after graduating two and still working on a second grader).
The Lord made the Santa decision easy for us. Rebekah was petrified of any kind of dress up character. She would scream at the sight of any kind of costume. The thought of telling her Santa would come down the chimney INTO HER HOUSE at night while she slept wasn’t an option. Her brother was the same way. Plus we didn’t want to lie to them. That’s the same reason we don’t do the tooth fairy or the Easter Bunny either. Do I want to lie about these things to my children and then have them doubt Jesus?
My kids have never felt they missed out on anything. We watch the Santa shows every year. They just knew at an early age it was all make believe. I have a friend whose husband told their 8 children that Santa was a demon god. They had to quit going out to the stores when the Christmas season came around because inevitably one of her children would spot someone with a Santa shirt on and would ask loudly, “Why do you have a demon god on your shirt?”
I did change pediatricians after I was accosted about it in the hallway of his office when my children were five and three. He asked them what Santa was bringing them. They just stared at him. (They are really quiet anyway.) I replied for them. He was loud and let everyone around know that there was ‘absolutely nothing wrong with Santa Claus’. That was my decision, not his. Usually people just hush about it when we say we don’t ‘do’ Santa. Some have to be vocal.
More importantly than all that though is that we focus on Christ and his birth. There’s no doubt in their minds that Jesus is the reason we celebrate. Yes, it’s way too commercial now. Now my mom doesn’t decorate at all. She and my dad do give presents to all the grandkids. But that’s the extent of it. They are glad we don’t do Santa. What a change of heart!
Thanks again for your encouragement. I believe there are more out there than I realized who don’t celebrate Christmas with Santa.
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We do stockings from “Santa” here. Very simple, small gifts are used. Our son has known from the beginning (as I did growing up) that Santa is just an idea, not a current real person. He was the one at age 2 years and 3 months who “confided” in us that “Santa doesn’t really visit, but he’s a fun pretend.” That was the first year we even really did anything for “Santa”. We have taught him about St. Nicholas (the real person) and that “Santa” is about the spirit of loving and giving, which we have when we have Jesus in our hearts.
More importantly, we have incorporated “playing Santa” into our December to focus on the giving end instead of the receiving end. We do a 12 days of Christmas here. For 12 days leading up to Christmas, we choose a person or family that we know who has had a rough or difficult year, and we give them gifts each day anonymously. Simple things such as a basket of fruit (that we put together ourselves from the grocery store), a Christmas music CD, etc. We have a Birthday Gift for Jesus (I wrap a shoebox, and have a hole cut into it) where throughout the month we put $$ in as our offering to Jesus. On the 24th, we open it and the money collected goes to a gift card to a local grocery store for the present on the 25th for our “12 Days Family”.
HTH!
Thanks for posting this. I have a 5 year old daughter and my husband and I are second guessing our no santa christmases. This seems to be the year that she gets it and wants to believe even though we’ve always told her he is pretend. Its been hard to figure out if she is going to grow up and need therapy or if she will embrace the true meaning of Christmas with her family as well.
My family do do the Santa thing and we love it – but it is only a very small part of Christmas and we love to get the boys to actually ‘be Santa’ for other people as well. The main part of our Christmas is to celebrate Jesus and what he’s done for us – and we focus on not only His birth but also His death and resurrection. We haven’t focused on whether or not Santa is real, but the boys write off their lists and they get 3 pressies from Santa each. But they are all wee evangelists and their teachers tell us they talk non-stop about Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas, so I’m happy with that. We always had Santa growing up and none of us were overly upset finding out he wasn’t real as my mum explained it at the right time and in a beautiful way using a lovely devotional- and now at the age of 33 my mum still has a stocking from Santa at her house for me!! So while I think its great for you all to have a no-Santa thing, for us I think we have a good balance and it works for us. They get to join in the ‘magic’ of Christmas with their friends while being able to tell them about the true meaning and believe me when I tell you that they are very vocal about it! And they have great Christian teachers who also do the balance very well. (For example – my boys HATE halloween and dont do anything even in school but so far God has given them all Christian teachers who have also done nothing about Halloween!)
Anyway – have a great Christmas and thank you for challenging us – its great to think about your reasons for doing and not doing things!
My parents never had me believe in Santa. They told us the truth and my Christmas memories are great. It made me appreciate them instead, and I understood why some years there were less presents than others. And we got to go shopping and help wrap (for our siblings). It was great to be a participant rather than a mere recipient.
I’m 12 years old. I agree with you.I think I was 8,9 or 10. How I found out was…I think I found out by myself! But anyways, I was disappointed that he wasn’t real, but what hurt the most was that everyone else believed in him. :( so I had to struggle with telling them EVERY year “I don’t believe in him.”and that’s HARD!!!!!!!!!!! But now everyone believes me. Except my brother and sister…:) that’s not hard though.
Thanks a lot!
Hannah
My parents always did the Santa thing with us and I believed in him until I was about 10/11. After finding out, I never once questioned the authenticity of Christ. Neither did any of my siblings.
I now have 3 children (ages 20, 15 and 11). We have always done the Santa thing and they are all walking with the Lord. My youngest still believes, although I am pretty sure she is questioning it in her own mind. I love the story of Santa Claus. He was a real person that loved to give to others. If you ask my children what Christmas is all about, they will tell you it’s about the birth of Christ. Even as small children they knew that. I don’t see any harm in it unless it takes precedent over Christ. Even I still get excited about Santa! I love everything about Christmas–Santa included! We watch all the Santa programs on TV, but on Christmas eve, we watch The Nativity.