I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was standing at my cubby in my first grade classroom, hanging up my denim jacket with the yellow lining, chatting excitedly with my best friend about my Christmas wishlist when she dropped a bomb on my world and announced that there was no Santa.  I still remember the awkwardness of my mother when I jumped into our burgundy minivan at the end of the day and confronted her with the question.  Was it true?  My poor parents. I was their firstborn and as my mom has told me since, they were already wrestling with their conscience over the “Santa lie”. My heartbreak was enough for them and the Santa Claus game was over for our family.

I have no desire to upset anyone with this post.  It is true that for some reason people get very defensive on this topic. Some of my very best friends do the Santa thing and I’ve got not issue with them. But I do want to share some of our personal convictions on the issue and explain why my children will give you a very blank stare if you ask them what they’ve asked Santa to bring them.

From the first Christmas with our oldest daughter, the name Santa was tossed around in fun, but we had decided not to join the hosts of parent’s who desperately work to protect the secret that (shhhh!) Santa isn’t real and do all sorts of silly things to try to convince their children that he exists.  We just didn’t feel right about it.  (Notice I said WE.  I’m not trying to be anyone else’s conscience.)  Then I read a wonderful book by Noel Piper, wife to John Piper, titled Treasuring God in Our Traditions, and the feelings became firm conviction.  She brings to light the confusion it must bring to young minds as we try to teach our children the truth about God and His unique attributes, and then give those attributes to Santa as well!  Think about it.  Santa sees everything you do, rewards you for being good, is omnipotent, gives good gifts, etc. If our goal is to help our children understand as much about God as possible at whatever age they are, we are doing them a great disservice to confuse them by celebrating Santa and the manger.  There’s lots more good stuff in her book, but I’ll stop there.

I love the passage in Matthew 19 when the disciples attempted to keep the “pesky”  little children from bothering Jesus, and Jesus rebuked them and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”  I’ve always pictured the Savior gathering these precious children onto his lap. I want nothing more as a mother than to be ushering my children constantly to the “lap” of Jesus. When we teach our children about Jesus, we are taking them to His lap. When we pray with our children about the things that they need or desire, we are taking them to His lap. As I thought about this the other day, I realized the sad comparison. I don’t want to undo all of these efforts at Christmas by suddenly shifting focus and taking them to the lap of Santa to pour out their list of “needs” and desires.  And I certainly don’t want Santa to receive credit for the blessings that we receive that are actually gifts from God.  I just can’t tear my children off of the lap of Jesus to sit a while on Santa’s knee. My conscience won’t allow it.

There is no avoiding the topic of Santa during this season,  but my children view him as nothing more than a pretend character like Rudolph or The Grinch.  And while we enjoy those things as a family to a small extent this time of year, my goal is that when my children think of Christmas, all that comes to their minds is a pure celebration of the birth of our Savior.  It’s the least we can do.

We had so much fun making a nativity scene out of candy this year!

Erin