- At 1, they will do their best to open what you put in front of them.
- At 2, they just want to tear open presents (regardless if they belong to them or not) and rock Baby Jesus from the nativity scene.
- At 3, they are aware of people talking about 'Santa', but they still don't know enough to really grasp the concept...and can sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.
- At 4, you can't ignore it any longer---everyone is talking about...'Santa Claus'
We have done our best to emphasize to our girls that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, and there would not be Christmas if He was not born... but you can't escape what the world wants to tell our children. We have decided that Santa will not bring presents to our home, and have compromised on just filling the stockings. We do not talk about Santa coming, but so many people have already asked Kaila "What did you ask Santa for Christmas" or "Are you ready for Santa" or "Have you been a good girl for Santa?" She even brought something home from school that she made for Santa, not us. We struggle with telling her the truth because so many of her little friends believe and is it fair to ruin it for them....which should not be our problem. We basically have ignored the situation, and I'm sure will deal with it completely next year. We just try to emphasize the meaning of Christmas and how good it feels to give to others--just like God gave us His Son. **Please let me know if you have any suggestions on dealing with this...
3 comments:
This is a tough one. Katherine is not concerned with it yet but next year will be. My sister and brother in law have done a good job. They get a gift from Santa but don't really tell them it is true or not. Their kids don't really think it is a big deal and know it is just a fun game at Christmas. They read a ton of books and do a lot to emphasize the true meaning of Christmas and I think they get it as much as a 7 and 4 year old can.
We've decided not to do Santa either, but we haven't really come across any major issues about Santa. Obviously, Andrew has learned some songs about Santa and knows about the man in red, but his MDO has done a good job focusing more on Jesus than Santa. I guess we'll try to explain to Andrew about St. Nick (the true story) if it comes up and then keep the focus on Jesus's birthday and do our birthday cake for Jesus, etc. Let me know if you get any other ideas.
I think you're doing a great job. Bruce's family does the same as ya'll. they just downplay the whole "Santa" thing and get stockings. He said it just wasn't a big deal. I think you're correct that you don't want her to start telling her friends there isn't a santa. I am about to post pictures of quade and price with santa...yes we went to see him. I feel like it is totally how you present the information. My sister told her kids it was a "game" some kids play. Her son didn't get into it, but her daughter thought it was great. I remember going to see santa every year when i was little and those are some of my favorite family memories. We would all go downtown and eat at the L.S.Ayres tearoom. Then we would ride a little train that ended with santa. I never remember being confused about the true meaning of christmas...nor did i think that jesus must not be real b/c santa isn't. ANYWAY, those are my thoughts...thought i would join in the conversation. =)
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