It’s that time of year, when good ole’ Saint Nick shows up in our malls and graces the screen of our T.V.s. To be honest, I love him! I’ve always been a fan. He just makes me happy. However, in our house, we’ve chosen a different path for our children in terms of Santa Claus. Here’s why.
Growing up my parents went to great lengths to help me believe in the jolly guy. And believe, I did, for TWELVE YEARS!!! Yes, that’s right, I was almost a teenager before I realized that Santa Claus didn’t really come down my chimney every Christmas Eve. Here’s my story.
When I was around 8 or 9 the Cabbage Patch Doll was the hottest toy in town…or better yet in the country. I knew how difficult it was to get your hands on one. There were waiting lists at every toy story of parents who desperately wanted one. Well, it was Easter and I had asked the Easter Bunny for a Cabbage Patch Doll (Yes, I know that I just switched from Christmas to Easter, but let’s be honest if the Easter Bunny’s real, then Santa Claus MUST be real)! I figured if I was going to get my hands on a Cabbage Patch Doll this Easter, it would have to be as a result of the Easter Bunny, because there’s no way my parents were lucky enough to get one.
Well, this particular Easter, I ended up with TWO CABBAGE PATCH DOLLS! One from my parents and one from the Easter Bunny. That’s it, end of story. The Easter Bunny MUST be real, there was no other explanation. The fact that I got two of the most desired and difficult to obtain toy in the nation absolutely explained the fact that the Easter Bunny was real….AND my parents got lucky.
So, any time my friends would say, “Amy, Santa Claus is not real! Your parents give you those gifts!” I would confidently tell my story and convince them myself that not only did Santa Claus exist, but so did the Easter Bunny AND the Tooth Fairy! I was a believer through and through.
That is until I listened up in church one Sunday in December shortly after my 12th Birthday. Our pastor was in the middle of his sermon. I was seated on the second row. He looked around to make sure there weren’t any little kids in the congregation who still believed in Santa Claus….little did he know. Then he just blurted it out….”Santa Claus is not real!” And he went on to talk about some other related stuff, but all I heard was “NOT REAL!”
I went home and spent the afternoon wrapping presents with my mom. I nonchalantly brought up the sermon and asked my mom if what the pastor said was true. With tears streaming down both of our faces, my reality was shattered! Christmas would never be the same. That Christmas in particular was SO disappointing and sad. It was ridiculous!
So, this very simple belief in something fun and light had completely tainted my view of Christmas. Instead of focusing on the beauty in Christ’s birth, I was devastated that Santa Claus wasn’t real! Complete insanity!
Therefore, when it comes to my own kids, I don’t ever want to give them a false sense of hope in something that isn’t real, when there’s so many awesome things to believe in that are very real….like Jesus! Or even the spirit of St. Nicholas.
So, what are we telling our kids? Well, we talk about how “St. Nicholas was a man who lived a long time ago and he loved God and loved people very much. He especially loved children and he wanted to do something special for children whose families didn’t have very much money. Every year at Christmas he would buy toys for poor children and give them without the children ever seeing or knowing who or where the toys came from. Today, when we see the man everyone calls Santa Claus, he is a reminder to us of the spirit of St. Nick and encourages us to be generous to those in need too.”
Taking a picture with Santa helps remind us carry on the same spirit that St. Nicholas had. I hope that will be what everyone thinks of as they see Santa this year!
And, don’t worry, if you want your children to believe in Santa, we will certainly teach our children to keep the truth to themselves! 
Amy, I, too, believed in Santa until I was 12! And then my teacher spilled the beans one day in class. I went home that afternoon, laid across my mom’s bed and demanded the truth from her. I found out that afternoon that Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny AND the giraffe living behind my dresser weren’t real! Okay, truth be told, I learned when I was 3 that the giraffe living behind my dresser wasn’t real (I had cruel older brothers). But anyway, I remember a period of contemplation on her bed before asking my mom if I should also stop believing in God as well. Needless to say, it really messed me up as a kid to learn that everything I’d believed in was made up! All this to say, I’ll be right there with you and Aaron one day teaching my own children about Jesus, the spirit of Saint Nick and how to keep their lips zipped when it comes to the truth about Santa!
I decided it was time to be straight-up with Jaden last year when, lying in bed one night, he asked me if Santa Claus was God. I was like, “Ok, that little myth isn’t going to ride any more!” So I explained something along the lines of what you did. Unfortunately, the way he interprets this (and it’s not incorrect, just a bit harsh!) is that “Santa Claus is dead!” Well, yes, but that’s not what we want to focus on! I have no regrets that we burst the bubble, and Christmas is no less exciting to him now than it was before, but it is pretty tough to get them to remain silent on the issue with other kids! That’s the hard part. One poor little girl came racing up to me last year, after not only my son but also someone else’s (who had apparently had the same conversation with his parents) informed her that Santa was dead! “Santa’s not dead, right???” she asked me. So, I confess, I just lied to her (out of hearing of my son!) and said, “No!” Yikes! What to do …
We have always talked about the spirit of Santa Claus to our kids. Luckily, Titus (age 7) has kept his mouth shut at school when everyone’s talking about Santa and all!