I always told my kids the story of St. Nicholas...Santa isn't fake, but rather a carried out tradition of a good person. We always center Christmas around Christ. Santa gifts still come, but we draw names and do secret acts of service and a special gift for each other. I like to write special notes with each gift as to why they are getting this item...if it's a tri-cycle I would write what the item means to me about them... like " This gift will let you explore your outdoor adventures, you have great energy and stregnth" Christmas is about our savior and our families; share with them what you see about them and how special they are. We celebrate to show how special our Savior is.
Other Bloggers:
Momza said... December 9, 2009 9:31 AM
We do the 4 Gifts of christmas...Gold, Frankincense, Myrhh, and Santa Claus.And use other traditional means to focus on the Savior--like going to the Messiah presentation at Church, a Creche exhibit,Speaking of the Savior's birth, etc.Santa is just a tiny part of our celebration.
Karen said... December 9, 2009 9:49 AM
One of my favorite things to collect are nativity scenes. I have more than I can count. I think this a great way to constantly remind children that Christmas should be centered around our Savior. I talk to my children about the fact that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. We even made Him a birthday cake the first day of December. I have several books that talk about the First Christmas and I make sure to share them with my kids. We do go visit Santa Claus but I also tell my kids that just like the Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus, Santa brings the children gifts to remind us of the gifts that Jesus received. I just don't focus on Santa that much because the kids are going to get a lot of bombarding info on Santa and so my focus is on the real meaning of Christmas.
Lene said... December 9, 2009 10:31 AM
Considering that Christ should be the focus everyday and not just at Christmas; and that he was most likely born in the spring closer to Easter; and the fact that most of the traditions of Christmas are related to pagan holidays I don't have any problem having Santa as part of Christmas. Yes we do have many nativities and we read stories about the birth of the Savior, but we also read stories about Santa and his reindeer.
mormonhermitmom said... December 9, 2009 12:08 PM
When my kids started asking about the existence of Santa, I told them "Santa is a job, not a person". It helped explain why they only saw ME putting stuff out Christmas Eve, when I thought they were asleep, silly me.
East of Eden said... December 9, 2009 12:17 PM
i've actually been struggeling with this, this year. Now that our son is a year old, and next year he'll understand presents and whatnot, I was panicing about what to do. Personally I am not a fan, nor is my husband, but how do you balance things so that your kid is not the weirdo among his friends?I really wresteled with it, to the point of almost having a crisis of faith. Then I remembered something that we did for a few years growing up. We celebrated Sankt Nikolaus Tag (St Nicholas Day) on December 6th. On the night of Dec 5th we'd leave one shoe out by the front door, or by our bedroom doors and St Nick would bring us a treat or a rock. Also per the German tradition (because this is a German tradition) the Kristkind brings gifts on Christmas Eve.So Sat night we laid our shoes out and Sankt Nikolaus did indeed come. We all got a treat.
DeNae said... December 9, 2009 1:33 PM
I'm with Lene, and for what it's worth, I think we "Mormon Mommies" do a pretty darn good job of remembering Christ all year long. I am SO over the guilt, and I officially absolve all of you of that guilt, too.Starting with sweet East of Eden up there, who is pre-worrying over how to balance the experience for a 2 year old (because moms are GREAT at the whole pre-worry / worry / post-worry trick!)However, I fought hammer and tongs to keep the Easter Bunny away from Christ at Easter. Easter is the last "High Holy Day" in Mormon culture, and in our home the bunny and his pals were over and done with by the Saturday of that weekend.
Kendra@My Insanity said... December 9, 2009 2:36 PM
I think the Santa thing can be great, if we use Santa as an example of giving. He gives without expecting something in return. I just bring it all back to the nativity.Here is an advent I've made to keep the focus on Christ.http://meandmyinsanity.blogspot.com/2008/12/inside-advent-calendar.htmlAnd here is a discussion about this very topic, that I participated in on MomTimeTV. I think I am the only LDS woman involved, but the others have good ideas, too:http://vimeo.com/8070328
Shellee said... December 9, 2009 2:57 PM
We mostly leave Santa out of December. My kids have deadlines. Their list has to be done by Thanksgiving and in the mail. We have taught them that he's more of a personal shopper that we give our money to and he finds what we (the parents) have put on our list. He's the judge of how much effort he puts into the task.Starting December 1st, the "gimmes" have stopped because there is nothing more that they can do. This is when we sneak in with the real Reason for Christmas. We attend concerts, perform in concerts and go see the temple lights. If we choose to do an advent calendar, it's service oriented. Sure, we'll see Santa at the mall, but I request that they ask for something for someone else. We also start with one piece of the nativity and nightly add a character and read the corresponding scripture. This really has helped.
Stephanie said... December 9, 2009 4:54 PM
I agree with most everyone elses comments. I used to be anti-Santa. Now I'm a believer in believing in kindness and giving, which Santa is supposed to be. I actually just posted about this on my blog on Monday.
Ana said... December 9, 2009 11:11 PM
We don't do Santa with our boys. I don't go out of my way to tell them he doesn't exist, and we still have fun with the stories and shows about him, but he doesn't come to our house and leave them toys. Those come from their parents and others that love them.When it came down to deciding whether we would do Santa or not, it wasn't really about the place Christ holds in the holiday. It was more no desire to play an elaborate game around a guy that doesn't actually exist. I have friends who will go to heroic lengths to make their kids believe, and it all seemed like such work when they will just figure it out someday, anyway.I realize this game is fun for a lot of people, but it wouldn't have been for us. I also have a bit of a problem trying to convince my sons something exists that I very well know doesn't. It goes against everything we try to teach them. So, Santa does not come to our house, but we treat him the same way we do Mickey Mouse or characters from Star Wars; they are fun. Whether this is a problem for him when he starts school next year, I have no idea, but I'm not too worried about it. It's not a bad thing to be different, especially something as trivial as this.
Julie said... December 10, 2009 10:00 AM
I really haven't felt that Santa is a problem. The problem is the commercialization of Christmas. The focus has turned to worldly goods and not service and love. My kids all know who 'Santa' is so we have set a low limit of expense for gifts. On their names that they draw it has to be homemade or something inexpensive. We go caroling to the neighbors to give them some joy. The most favorite of all is the story that we read of Santa paying tribute to the Christ child. It's called Silent, Snowy Night.
wonder woman said... December 11, 2009 1:53 PM
Great topic. Love the "Santa is a job, not a person" idea.
