I've thought about writing something about Santa Claus for a while now, but I don't want to offend any one or come across too preachy. So I'll just use Santa as an example in another direction....
In our family, we don't do Santa Claus. Our kids have never had gifts that were from Santa, and we've never said things like "maybe Santa will get that for you" while looking at toys in the store, or "be good, Santa's watching."
We've always taught them that Christmas is a time to celebrate Jesus being born and we give presents to people that we love as a way of celebrating.
But as we all know, you can't avoid Santa out in the "real world." And even now, our son will say things like "If we don't have a chimney, how does Santa get in?" or "I'm not sure Santa is real...what do you think?"
The Santa issue doesn't actually worry me that much....it's the thought of what other ideas the "real world" is putting in their heads. I guess it all comes down to the fact that no matter how much I want to keep them young forever and shelter them from the world, at some point the world will get to them, and I hope they can find their way.
Which I guess comes down to a recurring theme of my blog.....I don't know what I'm doing as a parent, but we're doing ok.
And on a related note for those of you in Northeast Wisconsin....whose idea was St. Nick's night? What's up with that anyway?
I'm not a parent yet, but my wife and I have had the conversation about Santa. We're both on the same page as you describe here that you and your family are on, Nathan. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteAs for your related note, I had friends that grew up with the St. Nick stuff, but I never did, so no clue!