I have struggled with the whole "Santa" thing since I first had Hannah. I don't like lying! And I don't think it is good to lie to your kids, even about Santa. Hannah's first Christmas I took her to sit on Santa's lap just so I could get the photo. But I haven't taken her since. She has drawn up her own conclusions about Santa being real. And she has only seen him on TV. That is until she went to the library with her class and Santa was there to visit with the kids. So, for the first time since we was an infant, Hannah sat on Santa's lap. She whispered in his ear what she wanted. After getting up she came over by me. I could tell she was super excited and just as she got beside me she told me in a non-library kind of voice, "Mama, he's real! Santa is real and I told him what I wanted and he's really real!"
Now my dilemma is what do I do. I can't deny that he was real in the library! I can't lie to her though and say there really is a Santa Clause who lives in the North pole and delivers toys on Christmas Eve. One of my friends once told me what she did with her son. She let him make up his own idea about Santa and just went with it. She didn't deny it or confirm it. And she also put a lot of emphasis on Jesus! I agree. I have always told Hannah that Christmas is about Jesus' birth and that is why we celebrate it. But now that she thinks Santa is real, I have to somewhat play along. I refuse to lie to her and use "Santa" as a tool to make her act good. So when she asked me if he is real, the answer is: "Only on TV is he real, like Mickey Mouse or Cinderella. There is no real Santa Clause just like there is no real Mickey or Cinderella!
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| Hannah telling Santa what she wanted. It was really cute to watch her "whisper" it to him. She didn't want anyone knowing what she wanted. Thankfully I already know! |
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| Hannah made a Christmas necklace as a craft. |
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| She was very excited about the songs, craft, and getting to meet Santa. |
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| Hannah meets the "real" Santa. |
2 comments:
I know people on both sides of the issue. You are very right to emphasize Jesus but I don't think there's anything wrong with doing the Santa thing. Personally my parents did Santa and it made Christmas so much fun for me. But I never questioned that Jesus was not real just b/c Santa wasn't. We do Santa but don't make a huge deal about him.
What a hard issue! I think you are doing a good thing though with totally emphasizing Jesus. She is awfully cute sitting on his lap and she looks very excited! You guys are going to have a fun Christmas for sure!
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