I am very grateful that, as parents, we are given the choice for so many things. We choose what we believe is best for our children everyday. We make big decisions from the day we learned that we were pregnant with them. We decide if we are going to vaccinate them. We decide if we are going to circumcise our sons. We decide if we are going to spank or homeschool them. When they are older, we decide if we are going to give our teenage daughters birth control, or leave condoms out for our son to use if we know they are sleeping around. These are BIG decisions that every parents must make. I mean BIG. These decisions have lasting effects on our kids in some way or the other; whether they are positive or negative, they do affect our children. And then the Christmas season rolls around, and if you have very young kids, you are going to decide whether you are going to let your kids believe in Santa, “tell them the lie” as so many call it, or tell them the truth. I don’t think this is a BIG decision, but I guess after mentioning something on my Facebook page, many do think it is. So, to each their own. However, I do and will continue letting my kids believe in the fairy tale of Santa.
5 Reasons Why I Let My Kids Believe in Santa Claus
1) Because the story of St. Nicholas is a true story. Saint Nicholas (15 March 270 – 6 December 343) also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus (1).
There are many legends about St. Nicholas of Myra. One story tells how he helped three poor sisters. Their father did not have enough money to pay their dowries and thought of selling them into servitude. Three times, St. Nicholas secretly went to their house at night and put a bag of money inside. The man used the money so that one of his daughters could marry. On the third visit, the man saw St. Nicholas and thanked him for his kindness. He also reportedly saved three men who were falsely imprisoned and sentenced to death (2).
2) Because I believe fantasy is so important to growing children. I am an avid believer in the Charlotte Mason schooling method. It’s the method I use with my kids because it is about giving kids a firm foundation of “living books“. Living books are books that come alive to children. Think of your favorite childhood book…it most likely was a living book; one that evoked fantasy and the desire for the story to never end. Fantasy stimulates the imagination, creativity and wonder, and we need more, not less of it. And I’m not lying to my kids, I’m letting them have a little imagination with something that is rooted in history.
3) Because I believe in the spirit of giving and not taking credit for something makes me even more humble. Santa gives the kids one or two gifts a year…big gifts! I make sure that the kids know that mommy and daddy give certain gifts though. My kids are only young once and when they grow up there will be no more fantasy. Life will be so serious. They will cry over every boyfriend that breaks their heart and every basketball game they lose. Then they will be gone and have their own families and will decide if they will tell their kids the truth about Santa Claus. And, in that moment, I hope when they think back on all the Christmases that they spent with us growing up…I hope they smile. I hope they remember the love we shared together…the anticipation of Christ…the anticipation of Santa.
4) Because the life of Santa Claus does NOT take away from the life of Christ. Santa is not the highlight of Christmas in our house. We recognize Advent and, everyday, we talk about the life of Jesus leading up to His glorious birth. Christmas day we have a birthday party for Jesus with cake and songs and dancing. Jesus is the icing on the cake.
5) Because I believed in Santa growing up and it was awesome. And when my dad told me that HE WAS SANTA I thought that was the coolest thing ever. It never broke me or made me think less of my parents for “telling me such a lie”. It made me appreciate the selflessness that went into Christmas in my house growing up. We were a lower income family when I was a child and my dad worked his butt off to make Christmas magical. And the fact that they didn’t take credit for all the amazing gifts they gave us??? Made me love them even more.
So, what do you do? Do you let your kids believe in Santa or not?
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Sources:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas
(2) https://www.biography.com/people/st-nicholas-204635
Photo Credit: Flickr
I have all the same reasons! One thing though- I’d like to think of Jesus as the cake, and everything ELSE is the frosting. Start with the foundation, yes? 😉
I agree! I love the spirit of Santa Claus. We have Santa bring 3 gifts since Jesus received 3 gifts from the wise men.
Your reasons for letting your children believe in Santa may contradict the values you are trying to instill… Ok, I will give you reason number one. Now reason #2, if it is fantasy, they don’t know it is make believe, they are not pretending with you. If you are giving your children concrete evidence of “Santa” bringing gifts without telling them the truth of how they really got there, it is dishonest. As fun as the game sounds, I personally don’t want to lie, yet I would agree on pretending to play this game of Santa. If our children are receiving the gifts, I don’t think we are teaching them about the spirit of GIVING. If you believe in the story of Christ, I guess it may your cake and frosting and all, yet Santa does take the spot light bringing gifts and all (let’s not kid ourselves on the excitement of opening presents). If family is what is important, I think memorable moments with our family is what should be valued, not the gifts they brake their backs in trying to provide. I think I would have loved my father to spend time with me any day as a child rather than having him leave or making time TO WORK and provide material things. Yet, like you said… to each their own.
Bah Humbug
Santa all the way! My heart hurt when she realized that I was leaving the Santa gifts. At 16, my daughter still gets gifts from Santa under the tree.
four years ago my husband and I decided to tell our 2.5 year old and 5 year old that Santa wasn’t real. They rolled with it. Fine that he wasn’t real. Our reasoning was we didn’t want to lie to them.
Last year my oldest started going on about Santa. We continued to focus on Jesus but when we would remind her about the truth of Santa, she actually said, mom I can pretend. After that, I was on board. We brought the Elf on the Shelf into the house. We talk about Santa, and my youngest reminds me often that he’s not real, but that he loves to pretend.
This year is pretty tight. We have been blessed with keeping things small and in perspective. Its good. Its all good. As long as your eyes are focused on Christ, there is grace and love in the rest. Merry Christmas!
We don’t celebrate Santa. We do celebrate the real St Nicholas on his feast day and I write the kids letters from St Nick and give a little present but they know we are doing “for” St Nicholas. We did Santa when my first child was young but I felt weird telling the necessary lies and making up “evidence”. Also, I want my kids to always know I’m being truthful so that they know I’m being truthful when I teach them our Faith.
Not related at all, but I just realized you live near us. We’re in Rosman, about one hour from Hendersonville, in Transylvania County. Isn’t it beautiful out here – I just love it.
I told my kids the truth about Santa as soon as they saw him around. I explained about the real St Nick. We ALSO told the kids it’s fun to pretend, and NOT to tell other kids! I was worried they would spoil another family’s choice. No worries- my kids did not believe me! After all, there is evidence of the red suited man everywhere, right? That was such a weird couple of years for us!
I am having a problem w/this being Biblical….Nothing says from God to celebrate Jesus’ B-Day. I believe in Holy Days and not the holidays. The $$ that people feel have to be spent for gift-giving is unreal. What’s wrong w/giving thru out the yr. why does it have to be all for one day. And yes the lies…..Thou shalt not SIN. There are other activities to do. Just my take.
No where in the bible does it say NOT to celebrate Jesus’ birthday either….
My children are grown now…but when they were young we made the decision NOT to push Santa as being real. The reasoning was if we tell them “Santa” is real when he isn’t – then they find out later, it’s always a disappointment. Plus, the MAIN reason was when we taught them about Jesus we didn’t want them to wonder if He was another “character” society made up.
If I had it to do over I probably would not have been so unyielding…… there’s probably room for both if taught right. 🙂
Oh for Pete’s sake. I’ve never known a child that was hurt by believing in Santa Claus. In fact I’ve seen more damage done by parents that won’t lie to their children. They’re also the ones that talk openly about anything and everything in front of their children regardless of age. Kids need to have a childhood and mine certainly included leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus and not knowing that we were poor because my parents didn’t treat me like a mini adult.
Thank you for this. Having a hard time with “Christians” looking down on us for letting my boys believe in Santa. At ages 4 and 7 they know what Christmas is really about but why not have some fun with Santa thrown into the mix. 🙂
I love Jesus. With that being said, Santa isn’t real, and we can’t see him. The Holy Spirit IS real and we can’t see Him. How does a child understand the difference between the two? They just don’t have the mental capacity to understand that one is indeed real, and one is a hoax. This is just one example of why I would never think to ever tell my children about Santa. Just a thought.
Kids are not stupid. It’s adults who underestimate children to understand the difference between reality and pretend. Children have been growing up with Santa for decades and we’ve all managed to grow up unscathed. Maybe Natalie was behind in her class, but I haven’t met anyone who claimed that believing in Jesus AND Santa confused them.
I’m frankly appalled that this is even a discussion and I feel sorry for children of parents who won’t let them indulge in the magic of such an innocent holiday tradition. What is the world seriously coming to when children can’t even be trusted to believe in Santa clause? Bah humbug, indeed.
Look at the world today! You say nothing is wrong with lying to your kids because its been happening for years! The world is a horrible place today, worse than it has been! Maybe that is a small reason behind it! Not saying it is, but you can’t say nobody was disappointed when they finally learned the truth when you have no idea!
Really??? Our world is a horrible place because parents lie to their children about Santa??? I think this is the very least of our worries and I honestly hope you weren’t being serious with that comment.
I love love love this post!!!! Every child needs magic in their life. I don’t want to live in a world where everything is logical and straight forward I would take magic and mystery anyday real or not.
I cannot fathom growing up not surrounded by the effect mystery, wonderment and joy that fantasy, played out by my parents, had in my life. I believed it all, rejoiced in it all, marveled at the impossible made possible by what I’d grow up to realize were the wonderful humans my parents were. Was I traumatized by believing in Santa, fairies, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy? No way! Those fantasies became, as an adult, an example of the miracles that surrounded my parents, who in their young adult lives had to do true miracles to put food on the table, give me the best medical care possible, the best education, presents during holidays and birthdays during a time in South America’s history when it would seem like an impossible feat to accomplish. Finding out the “truth” of the fantasies my parents played with my sister and I didn’t traumatize me, on the contrary! I still marvel at what my parents did for us, when I now as an adult realize how incredibly difficult life REALLY is. They continue to amaze me, as their problem-solving skills are truly inspirational for anyone that has ever met my parents.
More magic please – Kids need it! Childhood is the time that we can believe in fantasy and magic. It helps us learn, create, think out of the box and grow! To deprive them of letting their little imaginations explore the possibilities of Santa is cruel in my opinion. Believing in something or someone we can’t see is faith, we do it all the time in church. As Natalie states above, we can’t see the Holy spirit yet for those that believe, it is REAL. Perhaps believing in the magic of Santa helps us ultimately better understand faith; giving, sacrifice and love that Jesus shared with us is real if you believe and Santa is the training ground for kids. Yes eventually they learn that “Santa” doesn’t actually fly all over the world in one night, but the selfless giving and love is real and always will be for those that truly believe!
I truly am sad for any child who has never gotten to experience the magic of Santa. I can remember as a kid being so excited on Christmas Eve, that I couldn’t get to sleep. I swore I heard Santa and his reindeer outside all night. Kids remember all the great memories even into their adult lives. As for not wanting to tell a lie to your kids, if making up Santa is the biggest lie you tell them, then I think they will be ok. My daughter is a mother of 2 little boys and she says there is no question in her mind as to whether she should pretend Santa exists or not. She loves to over decorate at Christmas and all the other Holidays because she said it reminds her of when she was a kid. Obviously I created some great memories for her and my other children so she wants to do the same.
Don’t be sad — that was your experience, but as kid who grew up in a home where we didn’t believe in Santa, I do not feel like I missed out at all. We still played the game and pretended, left cookies out for Santa, everything. But we knew it was a game. Our capacity to play make-believe was fantastic. We did not feel deprived. As a kid who was very bent towards truth, a very literal kid as many are, I believe I would have been very angry if I had discovered my parents had misled me for years, even with good intentions. When people go on about the magic of Santa, I think they are missing the fact that to children, EVERYTHING is magical . The actual, real universe that God made is amazing, wondrous, unfathomable, and the more we learn about it, the greater the mystery. I’d rather have my kids pour all their wonder and delight into things that are true, so that later in life they can remember that and it can point them to the creator. I understand people have very intense, nostalgic feelings about this if their memories of believing in Santa are very fond and happy. But if you can’t consider the counter arguments — that truth is very much up for grabs in our culture at the moment, that girls are told they can be boys and boys are told they can be girls, and “science” is replacing God in the minds of so many people, and our kids are going to be up against a spiritual gauntlet of atheistic professors and public personalities when it comes time to make their faith their own — if these arguments don’t sway you, then at least shed not a tear for those kids whose parents make a different choice. We were imaginative, joyful, vibrant kids who loved Christmas every year, and I feel that we didn’t miss on any magic or wonder at all. On the contrary.
The world is magical without lying to your kids. If your kids can’t trust you to tell them the truth, then they can’t trust anyone.