The colors of fall outdoors. Ability to jog and workout. Being abundantly blessed with a home and other conveniences. My son's kisses and hugs and seeking me out (preferring Mommy) when he is tired, scared, excited, hurt, etc. He's growing fast but I still get glimpses of my baby in those moments. The differences between my husband and I that (for the most part; more days than not) make a pretty strong partnership. Especially thankful for a man who loves to cook and is effortlessly good with numbers.
On to Santa and a decision to trim up the amount of the old round and red man from CHRISTmas in our home. I will be honest and say that I never put much thought at all in to the implications of recognizing Santa before having a child. And last year when G was only 10 months around Christmas I had only put some passive thought towards how I'd like to present what the real reason for this holiday is- for our family.
What is right for our family is not right for everyone and I hope you will not take anything in this blog to be expert advice. The husband and I have talked on several occasions this year about what does it mean to un-acknowledge (not a word--see not an expert!) some of the commercialized portions to shine light on what is most important to us.
Some thoughts we've considered:
1. The commercialized version of Christmas is all about what you GET and the Christian view of Christmas is based upon the recognition of Christ's birth (true- Christ most likely not born at this point in our modern calendar year--you can google more on that if you'd like I'm not going to get in to a history lesson today). Christ gave his life for us; we want our families' view of Christmas to be more about giving.
2. It would appear at times that Santa is an idol; the Bible tells us not to place any other before God.3. Then there's this whole issue of what could implications be if- when the time comes, a child discovers Santa is not real? Do they also question God's existence that you have talked about and they have learned about and possibly (hopefully) become to love and trust?
While this doesn't mean we will take the festive nature and fun out of Christmas we want to raise our son with a greater understanding, emphasis and meaning of the very first Christmas. Simply put- we want a vision of Christ's manger to come to mind before getting presents and a man in a red suit. We do plan to talk about the real man, Saint Nicholas and his spirit of giving but do not plan to give gifts "from Santa" but from us, Mommy and Daddy.
This poses a question: how will we try to ensure our child doesn't "ruin it" for other kids? Well- by letting him know that other children may believe or pretend that Santa is real and to respect that and allow them to have their beliefs. No- my kid will not be Scrooge, thank you very much. :)
I found a post in another Mom's blog that puts all of this in to very simple terms and definitely highlights the fact that she apparently has felt some sense of being "different," whether good or bad from deciding to be Un-Santa'd. Check it out HERE.
So- Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived yet- no more talk will be done here about the following holiday until after Thanksgiving :)
Want to share your thoughts? Comment me (see that link below that says comment--click on it.)
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