Our decision after years of questioning...........

The questioning of whether to allow our children to believe in the made up character of St. Nick now known as Santa Clause. It has been tried and tried here at our house for about 5 years now, since the first CHRISTmas we had as a family. For the first 2-3 years we didn't take it real seriously and allowed it to to take place, but there has always been something about it that has not set well with my conscience. I could never really put my finger on it, well I could I guess but I didn't want to. I did not feel convicted enough to take the made up part of Santa Clause out of the tradition of our CHRISTmas. Well, now our oldest is 5 years old and can understand a lot of concepts that he couldn't before. Our perspective on life and training our children has taken a big turn since then also in where Christ is center of it all, and in everything not to leave out anything small, ordinary or simple.

Here is a thought that sprung up in my mind the other day as we were on our way to visit family. My son is really into Peter Pan right now. He pretends to be him and wants to watch the movie over and over. He asked me not to long ago about the reality of Peter Pan. Is he real? Easy, no. He is a made up character, there isn't a real boy who can fly and who will never grow up, who has fairies and lives in a make believe place called Never Never Land. I didn't even think about allowing him to think that this boy was real, it didn't even cross my mind. So in the car while thinking about this CHRISTmas coming up and family promoting Santa Clause I figured we should discuss the question once more but this time come to a conclusion. And that is when it hit me..........why am I having such a hard time with this one made up character? Do I allow my son to believe in any other made up characters? Well, of course not. I don't allow him to believe in a boy who can fly who lives in another land and has fairies why would I allow him to believe in a man who can fly because of his reindeer who lives in another place and has little elves. Because I did when I was little, and because everyone else does. I don't know of anyone who actually allows their children to believe in Peter pan and his fairies, talking animals, or any other made up character but for some reason parents do allow their children to believe in one make believe character, Santa Clause. Now I know that he was a real man known as St. Nick but he has been made into a fictional character with magical powers.

After this thought I thought of the answer we always used to justify our decision in the past and almost again for the future. It would always overshadow any other anwser we had....oh, I believed in him and I turned out okay, it is just a fun thing for kids to believe in. But the thing is it takes the focus for us off of the purpose of CHRISTmas............CHRIST. Children, my children would have a harder time focusing on Christ if they are infatuated with Santa Clause and the presents that go with him. Also Santa Clause has far to many made up qualities that some one else has, God. He can see you when your sleeping? He knows when you are awake? He knows when you've been bad or good? So be good for goodness sakes? What was I going to allow my children to think, that they should obey a fictional character that is all knowing because they would give them a present if they did? Is this what I want my children to relate to God? That he also possibly works this way? God is the only all knowing being and that is the way it should be set in the mind of a child, why complicate it for them just because it is fun and everyone else does it. I think we have been fouled that they will be missing out on something great if we don't allow them to believe in Santa Clause the made up character. Which leads me into my next opposition of this issue….lying to my children for the sake of fun? Why did I ever think it is okay to allow them to believe in something that isn't real for a few years. It can not be okay to allow them to believe in something that isn't real for a few years and then have to tell them when they either figure it out on their own, someone else mean spirited tells them, or you have to tell them yourself that you have been lying to them all these years. Maybe, it won’t harm them any or they won’t care much but what exactly is the point? I feel as a Christian I can’t allow my children to take part in this. Now, there is a much greater person that should be more emphasized during this time and that is Christ. There is a great and wonderful purpose in Him and His true character vastly triumphs over the made up character of Santa Clause.

So, our decision is to take the emphasis of CHRISTmas off of Santa Clause and re-focus it on to the son of God, Christ. That is our final decision.