Santa

On Saturday, Nov 30, 2013, we told the kids the truth about Santa. We told them we were the ones who filled their stockings and left surprises for them on Christmas morning. We told them everything.

And you know what?  I have never been more in the Christmas spirit than now. Im lighter. Im not stressed. There’s no more deception… and no more worrying about whether they will care more about Santa than Jesus. Because up until now, those two were both immortal, generous, miraculous guys. They were both off in some distant land, watching us, hearing our prayers. But one of them brought toys, and the other one? Nevermind the fact that (I’m thinking) Saint Nicholas would be devastated to think that his acts of generosity would someday overshadow the savior he was trying to emulate. Even when we would tell our kids that Christmas was about LOVE and FAMILY and JESUS, they nodded yes and said, “soooo…. when do we set the cookies out for Santa?”  This had eaten at me for so long, but I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. Then I read a blog that finally put into words… well, all of it. As Jen Hatmaker says in "The Christmas Conundrum": 

“For a five-year-old, how can Jesus compete with Santa?”

So, we told them who Saint Nicholas was, and why he did what he did, and that we will continue to celebrate his actions because he did it for GOD. (translation: this is NOT a boycott!) BUT, he died, and he waits for Jesus just like we do. Jesus is the only one who has conquered death, and that is the gift he offers us. Saint Nicholas got that, and he received it, and he acted accordingly. Do we? 

I was afraid my kids would be devastated… that Christmas would now be a dull and boring holiday to them…that they would take it to the extreme and say “THERE IS NO SANTA! I WILL DIE NOW. But their response? My son asked me to make him a santa suit. My daughter dresses up as an elf and they pretend they are running the toy shop. They talk about giving toys to the poor. They dutifully kept the “secret” from their friends even though they really wanted to talk to someone about it, because they understood it could upset their friends.  They even said, with beaming faces, that keeping that secret was easier than they thought. And maybe now when they think of Santa, they think of giving instead of getting…. Maybe they will think of the reason we are compelled to give, responding to the most amazing gift ever...just like Saint Nicholas did.  Santa is still a part of our Christmas, but he has been put in his place- where I'm pretty sure the original Santa would insist on being. Joy is spreading in our home.  And I think….I may have needed this even more than they did? Because for the first time in years, I’m so ready for Christmas.

                                                                              "Santa Man"