Alright so today is Christmas Eve and there’s a lot to talk about it feels like. In order to stay true to my goals and ambitions, I need to keep up on currents events and holidays going on, even if that means losing some sleep... Or a lot of it. Yay. So here’s a portion of what I plan to write about. The rest should be on its way, after I catch some zzz’s.
Anyways, Christmas tends to bring up a plethora of things to discuss in different circles. One of which is the annual argument about Santa Clause and whether the ole wanker should be portrayed as being “real” to our children. Some say its an awful thing to ever have kids believe that. Others don’t have a problem with it.
My personal take is that kids should be allowed to think and dream. Don’t force the idea on them, but allow them the freedom to think and decide what they believe in as far as Santa goes. I hear people going on and on about why we should be drilling Jesus as the reason for the season into children’s minds and totally remove Santa because he’s a blatant lie. But again I say, why do kids’ imaginations and dreams have to be squelched so soon? They have the rest of their lives to learn things the hard way. If anything, encourage dreaming and thinking. I’d say that for me, my imaginative mind helps my belief in spiritual things. I naturally want to believe that things better than this world exists. Extraordinary things. Things like angels and heaven and grace and salvation that was made for me even before I sinned.
Therefore Jesus shouldn’t at all be diminished. For He truly IS the reason for this gift giving, snow falling season. I’d say Jesus would be like the Christmas Tree and Santa and all that other Christmas fantasy would be like the ornaments. They compliment the main visual. The gifts under the tree are the virtues and memories we take away from this time of the year. So whether you feel you need to break the news to your kids about the fat red man or just leave unleavened bread out for him instead of cookies, remember: It never hurts to let kids dream a little (or a lot). Let them use their imaginations. Listen to their ridiculous ideas. Brainstorm about the impossible with them. And keep in mind that ultimately it won’t be Santa who’ll help them figure things out. It’ll be God.
My sentiments exactly, Josh. Kids will figure it out eventually. I let my daughter know that Santa was a pretend figure pretty early on. One reason being that many little kids are scared when faced with a real live Santa (like clowns). Had to let her know it was pretend. I continued to allow her to "play the Santa game" though. At the same time, we focused on the time Baby Jesus was born (the real reason for the season). You can have both. Much easier to do since the Santa thing is everywhere. At least it does help our imaginations, which like you said, we do need to have, even to appreciate God and heaven.
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