First, let me encourage you to not take offense at what I’m about to say. We don’t judge you if you don’t agree or have a different view point, as most people don’t agree with us. However, these are OUR convictions, and for that, we will not apologize.
Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ…We believe that Santa is a distraction from the true meaning of Christmas. For example, when you offer a child the choice of interest between a bright red fat man with flying reindeer who gives them shiny toys vs. a humble baby, the obvious choice is Santa. We do however, tell them about the real person of “Santa” – about his generosity and giving to the needy.
Next, the truth is…Santa is not real. Nor is the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Shrek, Tinkerbell, or Captain America. At the end of the day, if I tell my child that Santa (or Spiderman) is real and he is not, I have not told the truth. We hold integrity VERY highly in our family and believe that agreeing to participate in this fantasy, does not line up with our values.
Personally, as a child, I can remember having friends that get more than me from Santa, specifically friends who behaved worse than me. I can remember wondering what was wrong with me...after all, wasn't GOOD behavior what got Santa to come? While this is obviously a selfish reason, I can tell you that it did not help my self-esteem, even as a little girl… And anyway, isn't the unique thing about a gift the fact that it isn't earned, that it's given?
Further, we believe that the idea of Santa furthers the extreme commercialism and entitlement mentality in our culture. Kids write letters to Santa – who often brings the biggest gift – and this is what they look forward to at CHRISTmas…they gifts they get…what they want. Not only does Santa easily become more exciting than the fact the the God of the universe left heaven to be born into this world so that He could save us, but Santa easily becomes more exciting than giving, serving, and being with family.
So, we aren’t crazy…we may be unconventional, but we are ok with that! We firmly believe that our job as parents is to empower our children and to instill them with the values and qualities that we believe are important – and the bottom line is…Santa doesn’t line up with or fit into our value system.
Merry Christmas!
