Ever wonder what to do about the jolly ole man in the red suit? The first few years of Emmett’s life I wasn’t sure which way to choose. Tell him there is no Santa or go along with the myth that he’s real.
I promised myself when I became pregnant with my first that I would never lie to my kids. I wanted to be honest and open, based in reality. The truth is Santa didn’t really fit into that picture. So, I leaned towards no Santa.
When parenting truly kicked in and one baby, became two then three, I found myself telling all these little lies. You know the small insignificant ones. Ones that get your kiddos out of bed or brush their teeth. Sometimes these little half truths make life a little easier.
That’s when I began to think about Santa again. About the joy he can bring. I watched Emmett’s face light up as he told me all about Santa. He knew all about the jolly ole fellow even though I never spoke a word. And so a new tradition was born.
We decided as a family that you can have both, we love this book during the holidays. We can experience the joy of Santa, while gazing upon a little infant in a manager. That Santa just like us can find himself in a church, thanking that little baby for all he has done. We don’t have to be separate to be Christians. We simply have to kneel.
If you’re looking for the nitty gritty on how the holidays work for us, I’ll give you the breakdown. We keep it simple. Because man oh man am I too tired to keep track of everything. The boys believe that Santa brings their stockings and parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles bring the rest of their goodies. We focus most of the month of December giving back, see our Random Acts of Kindness advent for ideas.
We have the boys clean out their toys a week before Christmas. They know that these toys are being donated to boys and girls without parents and extended family to love on them. We want our kids to remember the joy the holidays bring and pass just a bit of theirs onto someone else with less.
How do you incorporate Christmas, Santa and everything else? I’d love to hear your insight. Comment to let me know !