On Santa Claus

We don't do Santa.

There. I said it. So controversial, right? ;) Yeah, we're rebels.

We've got nothing against the jolly old fella, but we just kind of omit him in our Christmas festivities. We know he's not the devil or even believe he's anti-Christian. We like Santa and the kids watch movies like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, even read books like The Night Before Christmas. We just don't try to convince our children that he's real. Because he's not. They know him as a character, just like Mickey Mouse or Cinderella.

Wade and I made this decision last year when Reese was 3. We both feel that there are so many lies out there that are told to our children (You need to be a certain weight to be pretty. More things will make you happier. It's not cool to wear clothes that don't have brand names. etc....) and our job as parents was to make sure she knew what was TRUE. It just felt weird lying to her about who put that present under the tree for her to open. Why give the credit to someone else when we spent our hard-earned money on something special for our child?

Or how about telling my kids to be good and then they'll get lots of presents? Uh, how about my kids are well behaved because that's what I expect of them all year long. And Santa's always "watching"? Creepy.

I want my kids to know that I will always be honest with them. If they find out one day that I had made up this whole Santa story, I don't want them to wonder what else isn't true (perhaps the birth of Jesus and the nativity scene?). A few weeks ago, Reese really reinforced the decision we had made. One night after reading a book about the first Christmas, she told Wade, "But Jesus is just pretend, right Daddy?" They talked about it, but it was quite eye opening.

So basically, we don't judge people who do carry on the tradition of Santa Claus because really, it's cute. But this just works best for our family.

So if we don't do Santa, what do we do? Just about everything else. My kids will definitely feel the magic of Christmas. They know that, first and foremost, we are celebrating Jesus' birthday! But we also make cookies & other goodies, drink hot chocolate & look at Christmas lights, get presents under the Christmas tree, buy gifts for our Adopt-A-Family, particiate in a Jesse Tree, make snowmen, attend Christmas services at church, decorate the house, and the list goes on and on.

I will admit it has been a little hard. It seems it's an easy ice breaker for every. single. adult to ask R&B if they've seen Santa yet and what they asked him for Christmas. Reese is slightly confused. Why do relatives and strangers keep talking about Santa like he's real? Don't they know? Then there's the challenge of making sure she doesn't spoil it for other kids... We've discussed this with her too.

I'm still not 100% sure if we've made the right decision, but I guess we'll find out. Hopefully my kids won't resent me down the road for stealing their childhood fantasies about Santa. And if you happen to see my kids after Christmas, please don't ask them what Santa brought them, Reese is still not sure what to say. :)