Santa Claus

As a parent I came to realize early on that every family has a different idea about how to deal with the idea of Santa Claus. I grew up loving to visit him and "believing" in him. In fact, my mom still tells me that he will get me something if I believe in him :)

Ryan on the other hand found out he was not real early on and still seemed to enjoy Christmas just as much!

I KNOW Christmas is about JESUS and my kids most certainly do too, but this issue of a plump man dressed in red is one that has to be figured out because he is everywhere this time of year!

So, we decided to let the kids "believe" in Santa. This year, Caleb (grrr..), a little boy in Hallie's class spilled the beans. She came home asking, "Is Santa real? Caleb says it's just your mom and dad, but I know it has to be real."

Well, I was prepared. I told myself I would not lie to my kids to keep the "magic" of Santa Claus in Christmas so I purchased a book a few years ago in anticipation of these questions. It's the story of Saint Nicolaus. When the boys were in bed Ryan and I read the story to her and let her in on the secret. She now gets to be part of sharing God's love by helping us set out "Santa's gifts" for the boys. She was excited and fortunately did not seem let down. (Idea from Bill Myatt..thank you!)

When we were putting her to bed I was struck with a thought. What if she thinks the whole Jesus story is make believe too! AGH! We talked about this and I probably asked her five different times, "You know that everything we learn and read about Jesus in the Bible is real, right? It is not make believe like Santa, it is real!!" She expressed an understanding, but it made me acutely aware of the huge problem created if we go to far with the whole idea of Santa!

I have done this in the past, but am challenged more than ever to tell the kids that the stories we read in the Bible about huge fish, floods, lion's dens, and sling shots are REAL. I don't want my kids to confuse fiction and THE TRUTH!