image from here.
i've been going around in circles lately, thinking about how to approach the whole santa-thing with my girls. i feel like i've got another year to figure things out before big sister starts asking questions (or knows anyone else who would tell her about santa), so i'm glad for the extra time to sort things through. in an ideal world, i would not tell the girls about santa at all, and to us he wouldn't exist or have any part in our celebration of christmas. sadly, our world is not this way!
my second preference is to tell the girls that santa is a story or a game, which other families tell and play at christmas time. but i don't really want big sister to be the one to tell other children that santa isn't real, when their parents still want them to believe that he is. a reaction i have to this train of thought, though, is that i'm sure there are many parents who would be prepared to tell their children that the story of jesus is just a story, and wouldn't mind if their children told my girls that jesus isn't real. it doesn't bother me if other kids tell my girls that jesus isn't real, because we know that he is and i am happy to talk with the girls about how we know that jesus is more than just a story. anyway...
my second preference is to tell the girls that santa is a story or a game, which other families tell and play at christmas time. but i don't really want big sister to be the one to tell other children that santa isn't real, when their parents still want them to believe that he is. a reaction i have to this train of thought, though, is that i'm sure there are many parents who would be prepared to tell their children that the story of jesus is just a story, and wouldn't mind if their children told my girls that jesus isn't real. it doesn't bother me if other kids tell my girls that jesus isn't real, because we know that he is and i am happy to talk with the girls about how we know that jesus is more than just a story. anyway...
my third idea is for our family to observe sinterklaas, which is a dutch christmas tradition, rather than following the australian tradition of having santa claus visit on christmas eve. i need to read a bit more about sinterklaas, but i like the fact that it is celebrated earlier in december (so that christmas day can be exciting simply because it is the day we celebrate jesus' birth) and that the gifts given by santa are extremely modest. i think it would also be a great way to cherish our family's dutch heritage (if you didn't know, husband's family came to australia from the netherlands when he was 8, and so the girls are half dutch.) the problems i can see with this approach are still how to explain about santa (whether to say that it's a game or to pretend for a while that it is real, which i don't want to do) and then how the girls would explain to their friends that santa visits them early just because they are half dutch.
so i'm still confused. i like the story of saint nicholas, who gave gifts to people in genuine need in his village, and would be happy to observe something that celebrates his compassion and generosity. but i don't know how to do that without buying into the extremely-bastardised version we know today as santa claus. any thoughts?
so i'm still confused. i like the story of saint nicholas, who gave gifts to people in genuine need in his village, and would be happy to observe something that celebrates his compassion and generosity. but i don't know how to do that without buying into the extremely-bastardised version we know today as santa claus. any thoughts?
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