(updated)
To put it my wife's way " Santa isn't a big deal at our house."
This is what I teach my daughter (and my boy when he's old enough) to which she replies....
Me : Selah why do we give and get presents on Christmas?
Her reply " For Jesus' Birthday."
Me: Yes! God gave us the greatest gift when he gave Jesus, so we give gifts remembering His gift to us.
My daughter is now 4, so Santa comes up this time of year, we see him all over the place. We just teach her that Santa is pretend, that he's not real. That's really about it. We don't teach that he's wrong for families to promote, or for parents to tell their children about. We aren't anti-Santa parents. We just don't make him apart of our tradition.
We just think it's a neat thing for our kids to know that they get presents from mom and dad. That when they get presents from grand-parents they know its from them. At a very young age they can with prompting express thanks to them for their gifts. It's my higher aim to teach them to give thanks for the gift of Jesus. That God gave us the gift not because we were good, but because he loved us even when we were sinful.
Don't get me wrong I am not a stoic. All the excitement of the holidays dwells in our home too. The baking of cookies, the Christmas trees, the stockings, the knowledge that presents are coming to enjoy, Christmas music playing, etc. We even have a few Santa things. My kids got some wonderful Santa jamies from their grandparents last year! We love'em. Its not confusing for our kiddo's if they know the truth. The image of Santa which represents giving isn't harmful to children whatsoever. We just choose to not to really incorporate Santa in our home. My wife and I were both raised to believe in Santa, we weren't harmed by it, my wife does have a funny story of when she realized Santa wasn't real. That's not for me to tell.
Our aim isn't to avoid Santa because of possible hurt feelings when the magic of childhood belief wears off for our kids. Our aim is to express the truth of Christ during Christmas, that none of our Christmas traditions matter without Jesus. We try to keep Chirst the center of all seasons in our home.Many good families who incorperate Santa do also strive for the same goal. I also understand some good families would disagree with me all together on the Santa issue, that's perfectly okay, not here to knock your convictions, just expressing mine. Thanks for reading and have a Merry Christmas!
