Good Ole Santy Claus - Part 1

Ahh, again...just like Halloween...this is one of those issues that people, esp. Christians, are so passionate about and definitely have their opinions.

Here's the deal...because some of you have asked in the past years how we do the whole Santa thing (and only because you've asked), I thought I'd just post a bit about where we stand on the whole matter and what we do personally. Here goes...

First of all, my experience with the whole Santa Claus thing was a great one. My family did Santa Claus. In fact, we didn't know anybody who didn't at that point. We knew exactly what Christmas meant and why we celebrated...Santa didn't take away from the fact that it was Jesus' birthday and that was the reason for Christmas in the first place. But, we did the whole Santa thing. We went to sit on his lap, pull his beard, make our requests known, even wrote him a letter or two from what I recall. Oh, and I think I remember calling some Santa hotline one time to make sure he knew what I wanted. We left food for him a few times. And, of course woke up with the excitement of seeing what Santa had left us on Christmas morning.

Here are just a few of the arguments of the non-Santa lovers that I've heard:
1. people make him out to sound like Jesus - I guess you could take it that way...the whole "he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake" thing. But, in all reality, even after I found out that Santa was not "real"...I never equated those characteristics described in that song or told to me about Santa, with Jesus...ever. I equated them with my parents, who I found out were playing Santa all along. I mean, they did see me when I was sleeping...they did know when I was awake, and they knew when I was bad or good (and wanted me to be good for goodness sake). :-)
2. why let some fictional character take all the credit for the good things you give to your children - I'm sorry, but this argument is totally lame to me...and pretty selfish too. I mean, I love that my parents played the "game of Santa" with us. I love that they were selfless enough to let some fictional character take all the credit those first few years. It was fun.
3. Santa overshadows the real reason for Christmas - If parents are really parenting and teaching their children the true meaning of Christmas and focusing on the only reason...this will not be an issue. The Santa thing will just be an add-on...a bonus feature...a fun game like I said.
4. when the children do find out the truth, they will feel deceived, manipulated, and lied to by their parents - I have to say that I never had these feelings. Again, I actually had feelings of gratefulness that my parents had been so giving all those years...and never even took the credit. Never let on that it was them that was doing it all...allowed me to have the fun of the game of Santa. BUT...I do have friends who actually did have these feelings when they found out about Santa (and these are not crazy, melo-dramatic people...they are just very ordinary, normal people that I'm talking about). I think that that is the rare case and not the norm, but apparently it does happen. So, it is something to keep in mind...if you do the Santa thing, you might want to really be careful in how you do handle the situation when they do find out. Apparently my parents did it in a way that made it feel like a special thing all those years.
Just thought I'd throw in my experience of "finding out" here. I was sitting at the end of our dining room table. Mama was on the other end, in what would later be Tucker's seat, probably using her 60-mile an hour fingers on her adding machine (I can hear it now). Daddy and Jared were in the living room. I had been hearing more and more from my classmates about this Santa situation...they said he wasn't really real. So, I asked Mama. Since Jared was in the living room, she told me to Shh! and come to where she was. She put her arm around me and I don't remember exactly what she said (that was some years ago), but it was something to the effect of Santa representing the spirit of giving and that that is always alive and real. But, by the end of our conversation I did know that they were the ones giving us our Santa gifts.
5. why would you want to LIE to your kids anyway - I just didn't see it as lying. Some people do maybe. Maybe it's all in how the parents present it? I don't know. And again...I think that it's rare that the kids see it as lying...I just thought it was a fun game. I even got stories told to me about how the mark on my baby doll's arm was where Santa dropped her out of his sleigh. And, how the elves had forgotten one of the pieces in a set (of something...doll house maybe...don't remember). Anyway, it was all terribly damaging...that's sarcasm, by the way. In fact, I still have that doll and every time I see that mark, I smile at how that baby was dropped so far out of Santa's sleigh, but he went all the way down there to the ground to pick her up for me. Such a cute, fun story.
6. if you "lie" to your kids about Santa, when they do find out about it, they will question if you are telling them the truth about Jesus too - Again, NEVER even put Jesus and Santa in the same category. Jesus was what our lives were about...we went to church every time the doors were open, we prayed, we sang about Him, we worshiped Him...we lived our lives for Him. Santa? Hello...not even remotely close. He was a once-a-year fun thing. It wasn't like we had any purpose through Santa or anything. I do realize that some parents use Santa all year..."Santa is watching" kind of thing. But, that is the parents' issue...in fact, should that parent not do Santa? If that parent didn't do Santa, do you think he/she would be pointing that kid to Christ instead? Sounds like that parent doesn't really know who Christ is in the first place...otherwise they would be saying "Jesus is watching."

Alright, now that I've said all of that, here's what we do...

(I'll post the rest of what I wrote tomorrow...it's too long to be one post.)