so we saw santa today at the mall of millenia. he's the coolest santa in orlando, so we went to visit him on a weekday hoping to miss the crowd. and pretty much did. the girls looked incredibly cute- the photos don't do them justice. (i think it was the washed out green in the chair :)) after leaving the mall, we headed over to bass pro shop so that steve could spend some birthday money on a fishing reel. of course they had a santa there also. anna katherine asked me, "is he another santa? a different one? are there two santas?" i just looked at steve, repeated her questions to him, and we all kept walking. we didn't even answer her. and she didn't even press us or ask again. shocking that we escaped that discussion. whew!!
i'm so torn by the whole santa thing. obviously christmas is about the most important event in history- the birth of JESUS, our redeemer- not about a chubby old fellow delivering toys. we make sure the girls get that, and we make a concerted effort not to talk too much about santa. in fact, i've only resorted to bribing them once this season with the whole "he sees when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake" song. i'm ashamed of myself for that one, by the way, but most people i know bribe for at least a few months prior to christmas. so i figure i'm better than most on that scale... but no rationalizing....
my friend nikki tells her kids that santa is "an american cultural tradition." i think that's great. that way, when they find out the painful truth, she can honestly say she never lied. hmmmm. i'm thinking about adopting that description. i guess i can just repeat that line over and over when the girls ask various questions- "is santa real? he's a cultural tradition. are there two santas? i don't know about that- i just know he's a cultural tradition. is santa going to put coal in my stocking because i disobeyed? all i know is he's a cultural tradition."
i'll take any ideas and advice you have. until then, "he's a cultural tradition."
3 comments:
Hey lady,
I too have struggled with Santa. Growing up HE was it for Christams. Not so for my children, they will know the reason for the season. But Santa is fun, and I took the girls to see him, and Love thinks Santa is coming to her house. I am okay with that. She runs around singing "Away in a Manger" and "Happy Birthday Jesus" so she is getting the message. I think you can mixed the two. I would not worry about "lying" to your kids. My parents did and I was scarred for life when I found out the truth. Just my thoughts. Look forward to others.
I was laughing so much while reading this.
Such a dilemma :)
The pics are great though and and a little Santa never hurt anyone. I am impressed by your question dodging skills. What happens when she asks "what's a cultural tradtion?"
There was a great article in Relevant Magazine about Santa Claus, the legend and the real Saint Nick. There's an excerpt of the article on Allsaintsyouth.com. Click on "what's happening at ASY this week", then the article exerpt under "redefining Christmas". Saint Nick WAS real, and he was so important and made such an impact, that we remember his legacy every year with Santa Claus. He was sharing the good news in His own way, and the people of that time related to it so much, that they made him an icon...Yes, it's gotten a little out of hand, and maybe the focus shouldn't be on him nearly as much, but I don't think it's bad to share with your girls his legacy. Think of it like a metaphor for what God did in Jesus. =) (that may be stretching it a bit, but have some grace...)
This year, now that we have Caiden, we're starting the tradition of making Jesus a birthday cake on Christmas day. Might be a little corny as she gets older, but hopefully it will make sense to her little mind during the elementary years. =)
The girls DID look beautiful! Are those dresses monogramed? WHERE did you find that? =) Merry Christmas!!!
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