What We Tell Our Kids About Santa

This month, I am participating in the December Blog Dare over at Bloggy Moms. Today's topic is "What we tell (or don't tell) the kids about Santa"

Little Man was not impressed

Our kids are still pretty little, so we haven't had many in-depth conversations about Santa, but we do tell our kids about him and he does come and fill their stockings on Christmas Eve and leave presents under the tree.

I like that believing in Santa adds a little more magic to my children's holiday. I was a believer in Santa for a lot longer than my peers (seriously, I was almost 11 when I found out). I remember being sad because I felt like some of that magic of Christmas was gone. The following Christmas my mom bought me Chris Van Allsburg's book The Polar Express and the book really resonated with me. I still absolutely believe in the magic of Santa and the magic of Christmas.

That being said, our main focus at Christmas is not on Santa. Thanks to Veggie Tales, Little Man knows the backstory of St. Nicholas, so that has helped us frame the conversations with him. Basically, we emphasize that Christmas is about Jesus and we give presents as a way of remembering God's amazing gift to us through Jesus. Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas, was a man who really loved the Lord and as a way of showing God's love, he gave gifts to people who needed them.  Because we love God, we celebrate His son's birth by giving gifts and sharing with others like St. Nicholas did.

For me, I feel like this approach strikes a good balance between our faith and the fantastic. I don't think Santa or presents should be the focus of the holiday, but I do believe that they are important pieces and that they can be used to further emphasize the true meaning of Christmas.