The Santa Saga

I really thought Santa was real. For many, many, many years of my childhood I thought Santa was real. And the Easter bunny. And the tooth fairy. And when I say that I thought Santa was real, I mean that I really thought Santa was real. I bought the tale hook, line, and sinker. I really believed a ripe, jolly old elf flew through the sky on a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer and entered my chimney-less home via my front door and left me gifts under the tree. Christmas was a magical, exciting thing for me. Now, either my parents were really good liars or I lived during an era where the magical was conceivable. Maybe in the 1980's, kids like myself without a lot of worldly exposure could readily believe such fairytales. But, kids are kids right? Or have things changed? We so often as parents base our parenting on what we experienced and how we experienced it. It feels safe to repeat what works and do the things for our kids that were fun and exciting when we were kids. This leads me to my current dilemma. I'm beyond excited about Christmas and can't wait for my child to have gifts to open as we celebrate Jesus, the best gift ever. Oh, wait. There's more. There's Santa. What the heck? What the heck am I supposed to do with Santa? It feels so weird (and honestly I choke over the words) to say things like "sit here on Santa's lap and tell him what you want for Christmas" or "Santa will bring you presents on Christmas day". Really? Am I really supposed to say that? Ughh..it's so hard to utter those words. Why is it so hard? I had the most magical Christmases ever!!!!!! (imagine Buddy the Elf here) I got SO excited about Santa! I loved leaving him cookies as I went to bed with giddy excitement and visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. My mind was wild with imagination and anticipation. Over time, I realized Santa wasn't real. I realized it's pretend. "Haha, funny, oh well" was the extent of my reaction. I wasn't mad at my parents. I didn't feel lied to, deceived, or really very disappointed. As long as you still get gifts who cares, right? And most importantly, I did still understand that Jesus was real, not pretend. I was able to separate fact from fiction. So, now I find myself with a three-year-old and right smack dab in the middle of an internal conflict about Santa. Should I just repeat what my parents did and go ahead with the Santa scheme? As a teen, I would hear about kids whose parents told them Santa wasn't real. I thought that was a horrible travesty. Why would they do that to them and ruin their childhood? In my head, I still agree with my teen self. Yet, here I am struggling to speak words about Santa to my three-year-old. It's a crucial age because he will literally believe anything I tell him. If I get excited about something, he gets excited about it. I am so torn over what to do. Should I do Santa with and for my child but just tell him its pretend? If I had been told it was pretend would I have had the same magical experience? Or, should Santa play as little of a role in our Christmas as say, Mickey Mouse?

These are my options:
1. Blow it out with Santa. Talk about him. He's real. He's coming. All the presents are from him.
2. Play the "Santa game" where we say he's bringing gifts but we know they're really from mom and dad.
3. Operate as if Santa is a fun Christmas character with no more impact than Mickey.

Under all three scenarios, the story of Jesus and the manger scene should still take top priority. Though I struggle with calling him baby Jesus (because he's not a baby anymore) and celebrating his birthday (this isn't his real birthday), but that's a blog for another day. Anyway, Christmas is bugging me this year now that I have a child and I really need help. I'm going to pray about what God would have me do.

Several days have gone by since I wrote the words above. I have prayed and made a decision. What do you think it is? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think.