Here's the one that didn't.
Priceless.
A facebook friend shared this interesting article which illustrates a fresh perspective on how to handle the whole Santa Claus thing at Christmas. Nick and I decided that we would not tell our children that Santa Claus is real. We aren't trying to stifle their imaginations (as some have argued with us) or downplay the role of cultural heritage. Instead, we felt that the issues of parent-child trust and Santa replacing Jesus as the centrality of Christmas were at stake. We do, however, tell her that while Santa Claus is typically a costumed person, he is based on a historical figure named Saint Nicholas. We talk in brief detail about Saint Nick's life and the good he did, illustrating why so many people enjoy dressing up as a more imaginative form of him during the Christmas season. This video has been a great and fun way to do this. We still let Shiloh (and later will allow Caleb to) choose to watch movies about Santa, and she even wanted to sit on Santa's lap at the store this year. However, we are teaching her that Christmas is truly about the birth of God's son, Jesus, and that we give gifts, as Nick will say, "...to celebrate Jesus being the best gift of all."
Here's to hoping you and your family have had, and continue to have, a wonderful and joyous Christmas season this year!
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