Sorry, couldn’t help but re-open this topic in another thread since the original one was closed and I’ve spent days writing my response… so here goes!
I may not be a parent yet, but over the years, my own parents have taught me that they are people too; sometimes inexperienced and making mistakes, yet learning along side their children. What IS important as parents is to determine what decisions you can and cannot live with, especially in situations that will have long-term results. Although my husband and I were both brought up by [name]Christian[/name] parents, and we choose to raise our family as such, we both have different trains of thought on the “truth” about [name]Santa[/name].
In my family, [name]Jesus[/name] was always celebrated throughout the year, so naturally my brother and I knew [name]Christmas[/name] was a celebration of Him too. Not to say that we didn’t enjoy the [name]Santa[/name]/Reindeer crafts at school and spending time together watching [name]Miracle[/name] on 34th [name]Street[/name], because we did, but we certainly knew that [name]Santa[/name] wasn’t the over-the-top magical, god-like character portrayed by the media. [name]Early[/name] on, my parents purposefully decided not to deceive us. “If you start out lying to your children,” they told me once I was older, “they will learn the truth one way or another, and then the natural progression is to wonder what other things you’ve lied to them about; causing them to question everything you’ve taught. Absolute trust is far too precious a sacrifice.” So what do you tell the ppl who always want to know what [name]Santa[/name] is bringing you that year?? Well, Mom and Dad always had a logical, inoffensive response: “[name]Santa[/name] [name]Claus[/name] doesn’t come to our house; mommy and daddy give us gifts”. My older brother was about 10 when he started thinking about this. So logically, one day he asked, “Why does [name]Santa[/name] go to everyone else’s house to bring them gifts?” Needless to say, at that point, mom and dad realized their yearly response might be lacking and need a slight re-invention. Today, under the influence of his wife’s family, his girls (ages 5 and 3) set out Christmas Eve cookies and carrots for [name]Santa[/name] and his Reindeer.
My husband also grew up in a [name]Christian[/name] home, like I said, but his parents led him to believe in [name]Santa[/name] [name]Claus[/name]; always taking him to the mall to wait in long [name]Santa[/name] lines and even having “[name]Santa[/name]” visits on [name]Christmas[/name] [name]Eve[/name]. So when [name]Michael[/name], the oldest of 3, started questioning everything by about age 7, his dad took him aside to talk. Now, I must say that my dear husband never could keep an exciting secret from his brother and sister, so to the normal parent, this would seem a daunting task… to anyone, but of course, my father-in-law. Anyone well acquainted with him would fully expect such an interesting twist on the truth. According to him, [name]Santa[/name] is real because “[name]Santa[/name]” is anyone who loves [name]Jesus[/name], always giving gifts to those he or she loves. So, in their family, he was [name]Santa[/name]. My husband has always cherished this story and is giddy to think that one day he can continue that tradition of personifying “[name]Santa[/name]” to our kids.
With that being said, I have always appreciated the REAL person St. [name]Nicholas[/name] (which was slightly incorporated by my in-laws), and somehow in some way I do plan to tell my children the story about [name]Santa[/name] loving God so much that he wanted to bless others 