My husband grew up in a family where his parents taught him there isn't a Santa Claus.
I grew up in a family where there was Santa Claus.
My husband told me when we were still dating, before we were married that he didn't want to teach his children about Santa Claus. Now I can respect that, but I wasn't so sure that I wanted to tell my children that Santa isn't real, because I believe he is.
No, I don't believe in a fat man who lives at the North Pole. But I do believe in people giving gifts anonymously and saying they are from "Santa." Whether it be parents or people giving gifts to a needy family, I do believe Santa exists. My husband could see some value in my opinion as well and we decided on a compromise. We decided that we would teach our children that Santa is a game that people play, when they want to give gifts to someone without the recipient knowing who the gift is from.
As time has gone on, we have had some gifts from "Santa" in our home. But we never really told our kids that Santa is real, or that he isn't.
The other day I was having a discussion with Cinderella. She was asking me if she can stay awake all night on Christmas Eve. I asked why she wanted to do that. She said, because she wants to see Santa so she can get a present from him. So how do you reply to such a comment with out giving the message that Santa is real or that he isn't?
I asked her if she thought she needed to see Santa to get a present. She said no. So I asked why she wanted to see him, and she said she just did. I then started to tell her that Santa is a game. She cut me off by whining. I asked what was wrong, and she told me she didn't like what I was saying. So I ended it there and haven't made any comments on the subject since.
I guess she really wants to believe and who am I to not let her.
2 comments:
Maybe it would help to explain that he's kind of like Cinderella or Snow White. We pretend...?
We didn't even bother with Santa. The stockings are stuffed with gifts from the wise men. They are the ones who brought gifts to Jesus so it made since to us. And it's no lie, because John and I are wise "men". This way the kids are never too hyped for the worldliness that sometimes comes with the season.
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