Santa Poll

[Rhett]

Not trying to start an debate really, just wondering. (Mods, feel free to move it if you think it is doctrinal. I wasn't sure really)

Does Santa come see your kids at Christmas? Why or why not....

I'll post my info later when I have more time.

[MacUser]

My son's first statement of future employment was to be Santa's Helper at the North Pole when he grew up.

We draw strict lines between "why" Santa does what he does.. because he celebrates Christ's Birth.

It gives my children that extra special excitement as well as mom and dad. I can see the imaginations exploding for my 5 and 3 year old. Love them and cherish them why you can.

[Poimen]

We do not -- albeit Santa and such is all around us -- so we have explained it to the girls, and they enjoy the fan fare of it all, but we do not celebrate or perpetuate "Santa" in our celebrations.

Why? Because quite simply, without having to go around the world to make it otherwise (:P ), it's a lie. Lying is wrong.

[Shellie]

No, we do not.

I didn't want to teach them of the big four. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Jesus. All bring you good gifts............until you are 7 or so. Then you find out they aren't real.

See my reasoning? What then would make Jesus different?

I don't bust anyone else's chops, but this why we don't. My two oldest are 18 and 16 and they have told me that they don't feel like they missed out on anything.

I did get a note from Shelby's Kindergarden teacher though. Mrs. Kaser asked me to please ask Shelby to quit telling all the other 5 year olds that there was no such thing as Santa.

[Jennifer Smith]

Our little boy is the one who flatly tells all his little friends, "Santa? He's dead." We've tried to rein him in on that one. But he's just a very black-and-white kind of kid.

Well, at least he won't think Jesus was a made up story when he finds out we lied about Santa!

[Jennifer Smith]

BTW, isn't this a funny time of year to run this poll? How about an easter bunny poll?

[Rhett]

BTW, isn't this a funny time of year to run this poll? How about an easter bunny poll?

I already did... It's called "Paganism Poll" and it's in the Doctrine section. It caused quite a firestorm too. But that is not my intent to do here... I figured I ought to go ahead and get it out of the way in time for Christmas!

[Rhett]

We don't.

We decided this before our kids were ever born. Our parents and sibings think were are nuts though!! My mother-in-law admonished my wife a couple days ago for us not having an egg hunt! One thing my wife and I are committed to is telling them the truth even if it hurts. (It's been hard at times, believe me!)

My reasoning for not doing the Santa thing (and other traditions as well) was because of my childhood. My dad was an Atheist, my mom was a "dukes mixture" of witchcraft , astrology, and some other weird ideas. All that added up to NO JESUS in my home. Christmas and Easter was always about Santa and a rabbit respectively and it never had anything to do with Jesus.

So as a kid, I believed in an unseen omniscient being (Santa) who I loved with all my heart... That was until I figured out it was a lie. Then it broke my heart and killed my faith in the unseen somewhat.

Now my dad never really lied about it, when I asked him if Santa was real he would reply, "Santa is a mythological creature". But with me being too young to know what "mythological creature" meant, it sounded like a resounding YES to me!!

To make a long story short, we decided to break tradition and only tell our kids about Jesus. We figured it would be best to channel that childlike faith into something that was real. I thought perhaps if my kids believed in Santa only to later find out he was not real, it could damage their trust in me and what I teach them about Jesus.

My oldest son was born again at a young age and is very very devout. He sees everything in black and white too. To him, Santa is the anti-Christ!! He's like John the Baptist or something...

While on the other hand my 4 year old daughter loves Santa and thinks he's real, though we have never told her that. (I think a Sunday School teacher taught her about it all this past Christmas... )

I do not try to be legalistic about it. I just hope people use good judgment.

[Rhett]

btw,

We have tried to convince my daughter that Santa is not real, but she pouts and refuses to believe it... Crazy what people can sew in a kid's mind about an hour!!

[pastorables]

You did not include my category, thus I did not vote; however, our four year old believes in Santa in his own way. We do not make big fanfare about Santa, yet we do not over emphasize the opposite either. The bottom line is that Santa is real and this is how we explain it to our son. We explain about the real Santa (St. Nick) and how he would give good gifts to the needy. We use his example to show our son how that we have the spirit of giving that Santa had, etc... At four years old, he still tends to believe in Santa in his own way and that's fine with us. We just don't try to convince him that a myth is truth, etc. We do let him have his picture made with Santa at the mall each year, to which he replies, "That's not the real Santa."

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[Kenya]

I don't remember believing in Santa Claus even as a child. I don't know that my parents intentionally did that. I think that because we had Christmas early at our house and then always went to Kentucky for CHristmas Eve and Christmas, they never could really pull one over on me. It just wasn't that big of a deal. I've been the same way with my kids. I don't guess they have ever really believed in Santa. We say it's just a game we play at Christmastime. They know where the presents come from - mom and dad. They know the real meaning of Christmas. But we aren't anti - Santa or anything. He just has to be kept in proper prospective....

[dolfan]

Santa is just good fun. I like Pastor Ables' approach to it, and I'm going to take that as good advice. But, I have no issue with people going all out, either (or, none out). The concern that my child will somehow not believe in Jesus when they learn that SC, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are play-characters doesn't really hit me, though, because none of those pretend-people have the power to transform us every day. Our lives should (and I pray do and will) speak how vital Jesus is to everything we do. If the moment of truth about SC, EB and TF cause doubt about Jesus, then I've done something terribly, terribly wrong with my life and how it relates to Him even without those fictional characters. Just the same, though, my own opinion is that SC, EB (and, honestly, we haven't approached the Tooth Fairy issue yet, but it was not a big deal growing up so I doubt we'll say much about it when we start losing baby teeth) are all just games and it is best not to have or teach a real emotional investment in them.

[Rhett]

Pastorables:

You did not include my category, thus I did not vote

My bad. I didn't think about that...

dolfan:

If the moment of truth about SC, EB and TF cause doubt about Jesus, then I've done something terribly, terribly wrong with my life and how it relates to Him even without those fictional characters.

This is true.

We still do the tree and presents and stuff. The kids just know that we bought them the stuff and they don't get to open them until Dec 25. (If this was the Paganism Poll thread, I guess the Christmas tree is where some would think I was being a bit hypocritical )

[KiMmY]

We told Courtney the real story of Saint Nick, so she doesn't believe in him as the big magic elf that squeezes down the chimney to leave toys. We focus on the birth of Jesus. We had that same problem when she started school where she wanted to dash all the kids hopes and dreams in Santa. Hey...the truth hurts sometimes. HA!

[turbotim]

Jessica and I don't have kids yet, but we have decided that we will not. I appreciate the gifts that my parents got me when I was young. It was them who sacrificed to get me a gift. And taught me that it was Ultimately Christ who made the greatest sacrifice for us by being born to die.