As a Christian parent with kids growing up in church, I have heard many arguments against Santa Claus. The top two would probably be that 1) Santa Claus and everything his story entails takes away from the real reason we celebrate Christmas, and 2) Lying to your children sets a bad precedent.
My husband and I actually had some long discussions about how we would handle the Santa Claus dilemma. We discussed the pros and cons of either approach. In the end, we decided the joy and anticipation of a visit from Santa Claus was a part of childhood we wanted our children to experience.
Last year, my then 7 year old daughter began to hear rumblings at school that there was no such thing as Santa Claus, that the jolly old elf was just mom and dad putting gifts under the tree after you fell asleep. When my older son began to hear the rumors, he asked us point blank. He’s a logical sort of guy and the story of a large man traveling the world in a single night and then getting himself down your chimney seemed unlikely at best. We knew the gig was up with him, but asked if he could help keep the magic alive for his sister. He agreed readily. He was ready to not believe.
My daughter on the other hand was not ready to give up on Santa. She had some rather heated discussions with her classmates defending this wonderful elf bearing gifts and good cheer. She was so incensed that she wrote Santa the following letter:
On Christmas morning, the letter was signed and the cookies were eaten, but Mr. Kringle also wrote this letter as a backup:
My Dearest Rachel:
Thank you so much for your letter. It was so nice of you to take the time to write me. Your mom and dad have been very proud of you and your brother this year. Even though you don’t always get along, I know that you love each other very much. Sometimes brothers and sisters just get on each other’s nerves! You are such a sweet girl. I especially love the way you are always concerned about someone else’s feelings, even when they have been unkind to you. It takes a very special person to love that way.
Now as to your question of whether or not I am real. The simple answer is yes, I am. The complete answer requires a bit more complicated explanation. There are many boys and girls of all ages that either believed in me at one time, then stopped believing, or simply have never believed in me. There are even some boys and girls that have never heard of me, if you can believe that! Rachel, what I would like you to understand is that your belief in me makes me real. For as long as your heart tells you that there is a Santa Claus, that is where I will be. For those who say I am not real, I do not exist; for those who believe, I do exist.
I would also like to clear up a little rumor about me that has been going around since before I can remember. It is not true that only good boys and girls get presents from Santa. There are many very good children that get very little; there are others who have been very naughty indeed, yet get lots of toys. The decisions about who gets what toys I must leave to their moms and dads. It is not my place to make these choices.
The truth of the matter is that none of us are truly good except for Jesus. And Christmas is about celebrating God coming to earth in the form of a little baby born in Bethlehem. There may come a day when you no longer believe in me, and I want you to know that that is okay with me. Like I said before, I exist in the hearts of those who choose to believe in me. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, has no such limitations. He is real whether you choose to believe in Him or not, and He loves all of us so very much that He left His perfect home with God so we could someday join Him there. I know I am very special to you, and I appreciate that very much. But I also know you understand that Christmas is not about me; it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus — the very best gift of all. A very Merry Christmas to you.
Love,
Kris Kringle
aka Santa Claus
P. S. – Thanks for the milk and cookies. Chocolate Chip are my favorite!
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I have never heard of a better way of addressing the reality of Santa. What a beautiful, kind letter full of so many truths. I’m so glad you shared it.
What a wonderful letter. I love how you word everything and you put it all together so well.
I may have to copy..um…borrow this letter and stash it away for when my kids get a little older.
*sniff*
Thanks for the boogies in my coffee this morning, Katdish…..this was beautiful. And perfectly timed as my daughter is about the same age and stage this year. I love the Truth woven through your letter. Thanks for sharing……your children are blessed to call you mom.
Peace~
*~Michelle~*
“He is real whether you choose to believe in Him or not.” Wow. I love it when Deep Katdish comes out to play. You and your daughter are mutually blessed.
I was in first grade when my teacher, the total modern, announced to the class that there was no such thing as Santa Claus. Mistake. Half the class went up in tears.
This is a much superior way.
That letter is just perfect, I especially love the bits about clearing up the rumor of gifts being just for good kids. Brilliant! I remember wondering why some of the mean kids always got more toys than I did as a child, ha!
Anyway, thank you for sharing this. As I said on twitter, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to handle the santa “issue”, and this was pretty much just what I needed to read.
I’ve heard those rumors Santa isn’t real for years now. You are a blessing!
You are a great mom, Katdish. And you have a very clever little girl.
You’re really good … and the line {truth} about Jesus is the best!
LOVE it. Great letter … and wonderful explanation about which children get what. Thank you.
Nicely done!
Such a simple explanation. But simple is all a child needs!
Beautiful!
Excellent post. And a wonderful explanation of Santa.
Sigh. . . I miss those notes from Santa to my son. He’s 21 now. He still likes the magic, though.
I’m touched and speechless…wow. That was a tremendous blessing.
Kat – I absolutely, positively LOVE this! I have NEVER seen this topic approached so well. WOW.
Excellent!! Excellent!!
Wish I would have had this when my kids were younger.
Wow. That is an amazing Santa letter. The best I’ve ever seen. I’m going to have to hang on to that.
We had to deal with these same decisions when our children were small. I love the letter and how well you handled it. You have very blessed children, Kathy.
Wow! What a beautiful, perfect letter. You have handled this issue so tenderly and gently. I love it. I wish all children (big and little) could have a lovely, meaningful explanation like this one. Thank you so much for sharing.
What a great letter! Love it!!!
This is the the kind of practical advice many parents need when facing the “Santa” conundrum. How can we teach our children that The view of Christmas needs to change? How can we highlight the many “good little boys and girls” who are in great need? This is seriously positive! Thank you for tackling this head-on.
Good job, Kat. We decided to give surprises for Christmas but forgo the Santa experience. The funny thing is that watching all those Santa movies on TV, my oldest knows but every once in a while wants to believe…
I love that children want to believe instead of trying to come up with reasons not to.
Thanks everyone for all the encouraging comments. My daughter still believes because, like Jason said, she wants to believe. But she also understands the True gift of Christmas.
Who’s Santa? Oh, that guy at the mall? I believe in him, I met him once.
Nice chap. Smelt of booze. Nice chap though.
That? That was incredible. Your daughter is blessed to have the two of you as parents.
And I still believe in Santa.
We skirt the Santa Claus deal and do a “3-wiseman” visit. The presents are surprises, but come from Mom and Dad. Instead of some figment of their imagination getting the credit, we felt it better to know that we had worked and provided the gifts as the Wisemen presented gifts to the King of Kings.
But, they know that Santa Claus was once a real man, a saint, a man of God with a heart for children, and that some believe he still visits some people in the middle of the night.
Gosh, this seems so timely for me to have stumbled upon. I have never introduced my kids to Santa, but it seems they pick it up by osmosis. My four year old was telling me in detail last night how very real Santa is and despite my assertions to the contrary he *wants* to believe in Santa. I have been looking for a balanced approach. This seems to be it.
Thank you so very much.
Hmmm, is it too terribly difficult to raise our children to be “set apart” from the world and its meaningless rituals? Yes, Santa is a harmless childhood experience, but why do we as believers allow the world’s ideals to so permeate our world view? It’s not that hard to proclaim the truth to our children and let them see the Santa story for what it really is…just a story that tends to take attention and honor away from the King of Kings. The letter was brilliant, and brought the focus back where it belonged, but why set your kids up for a fall they never need to experience? Surely the pure, beautiful truth of Christ coming to earth as a baby to give His life for us is a beautiful enough reality to spend the Christmas season focusing on, without the silliness of Santa getting in the way. Thank you for letting me be heard.
There are infinite ways to use the beauty and wonder that children feel for the story of Santa to bring their focus to Christ.
eg. ~relate the self-less giving of Santa to the most self-less gift of all. ~accentuate the power of faith.
~have him leave 3 gifts for each child under the tree to commemorate the 3 wise men.
~children can understand that Santa (Saint) is inspired by the same Spirit that inspires Gospel, you, and I …working through us to promote love and self-less giving.
For our children to experience a faith based Santa, can give them the tools they need to facilitate Truth conversation in social settings. They can share the message of Love with other children while preserving faith and hope in an increasingly secular world.
I adore this movement, of which Christmas Change and The Advent Conspiracy, are a part. I appreciate their efforts to renew and restore meaning to the ritual and celebration of Christmas and am thankful for the inspiration to re-evaluate and reconstruct what Christmas is in my own home and heart.
What a beautiful letter – so truly perfect. Your children are truly blessed to have a mom and dad who support the magic of Santa Claus without losing ANY of the joy, respect and truth of the true spirit of the holiday!
Danielle and C,
I love the comments in this post because my Children really, really want to believe in Santa. It is difficult because, although I do not want to teach them to believe an untruth, I do not want to take away the magic of Christmas. Perhaps there is a way to teach them to believe in the ideology of Santa (and allow them time and space to explore his reality). What if, as C said, we taught them that Santa trusted in the same Spirit as we? Perhaps one way to do that is to teach them about the historical Saint Nicholas, a man revered for giving to the poor. Talk about counter-cultural and historically accurate.
I’m thinking of exploring this this year as I teach my children that Jesus came to rescue and redeem those in need (us)–that it is the magic and wonder of the Jesus story that drives this season. I’m thinking of teaching them that Santa really understood and acted upon that story.
Thanks for that letter! The best I’ve read for awhile.
What a great idea. My husband and I have had many discussions the last couple of weeks on how to deal with this, our boys are 2 and 1. And we have gone back and forth on the matter. I am so glad to hear others who are Christians are trying to find a compromise! We still haven’t made up our minds, but definitely reading this has eased my heart a little bit! Thanks for sharing!