I know everyone has some great idea's and traditions for the holiday season.
What I want to know is what you do to focus more on Christ and not Santa,
OR
have you taken Santa out of the picture and why or why have you not?
9 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Well hello Darc! As you know via our conversation the other night, I do not believe in taking Santa out of Christmas. While the main focus should absolutely be our Savior and his birth, they call it chilhood for a reason. Santa is such a magical part of not just the 25th, but of the season. He teaches our children the spirit of giving. We're only children for so long and eventually, and no matter what, we all learn the truth about Santa. To me Santa is part of being a kid...and I feel it's so important to let our children be just that! There are other ways we can put the focus onto Christ. In our house this year the children will be receiving only three gifts each, in symbolizing the three gifts given to baby Jesus by the wise men. We read the story of the nativity from the scriptures. We display a nativity and talk about why we do. There are several, several ways to do this...and I absolutely think that every family should. In short, which this isn't, I think we should celebrate the birth of Christ, but aren't celebrations supposed to be fun?
Hey Darci, Santa vs no Santa... to me, Christmas isn't Christmas without Santa. Maybe that's because I didn't go to church as a kid like you guys. Maybe it's cause I don't know all the details of Christ's Birth... or "The story of the nativity" that Trish (Hi Trish... I'm Jay... your Cousin :P) mentioned. But I do agree with Trish that Santa adds a magic to Christmas... and makes it fun... and kids should have that. So, I say keep Santa... but make sure your kids know it's about giving gifts... not getting them. How to do that? Maybe start by making gifts together... painting rocks, drawing pictures, anything personal that YOU did... and you give it to someone special. You can bring in store-bought presents when you think yor kids understand it's about giving gifts... and not receiving them. Will that work? I don't know. You guys probably have a better idea on that than me atm... you're married and have kids; I'm not... but I hope to be soon!
Hey Darc, I have different feelings about Santa. I don't think Santa fits into the Christmas celebration in any way other than to detract from the focus of Christ. When I was little and I figured out that santa wasn't real I wasn't shocked or disappointed. Christmas was still as exciting as before and just as "magical". It didn't ruin my childhood or make me like Christmas any less. Even after I knew Santa wasn't real as a kid I still focused entirely on santa and not Christ. Oh don't get me wrong I knew what Christmas was really about but when santa is in the picture it is really hard to focus on Christ. It is confusing. This troubled me when I became an adult and had children of my own. I think Santa as they say in the scriptures is "an incorrect tradition handed down for generations" we are told to stand above the world and if that means standing alone while expressing unpoppular oppinions...so be it. Why can't Christmas be just as exciting and magical awaiting the birthday of the Savior and not the arrival of a make belive man? My kids know that santa is make believe. We invite Christ into our home on Christmas not Santa.
I think that you can make Christ and Santa a part of Christmas. One thing that our family did each Christmas was to give Christ a "gift"- something that we were going to do during the upcoming year for Him. On Christmas Eve we would each write our "gift" on a slip of paper and we had a little box with a gold lid that we put them in. Then the next Christmas Eve we would open the box and read what the gifts were. We also did the twelve days of Christmas a couple of years. I remember being so excited to put the gifts together and take them to the family we had picked and try to deliver the gift and run away before they could see who it was from. As far as Santa goes, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Santa- especially for the children. It's so sad when kids don't believe in Santa anymore. It takes the fun out of it for the parents, I think. As long as Santa gifts aren't taken to an extreme (ie:kids getting everything single thing on their wishlist and still expecting more after that) it can be fun for both parents and kids. Like Jeremy said in his post- You have to focus more on the giving than the receiving.
well my youngest one. if i'd had my way when you kids were growingf up, we would have given more to othersa than we got. it's all about christ and his gift to us. you can make christmas fun by picking out a family and becoming a secret follower of christ and give to others. use giving as your christmas tradition. charity will get you into heaven quicker than getting presents from santa clause. the reason for the season is christ, not walmart,target....etc..... pop
As a child and even into adulthood Christmas is a magical season. It has to do with lights, trees, decor, santa, and the love and concern that we feel to others, and of course Christ. As a child we received a ton of gifts but my very favorite memories are of reading the Bible story each night in December, putting out the nativity and anxiously unwrapping each animal and character and putting them in their place, and of picking a family and shopping and wrapping and cooking things for them. Then running to their door and watching the mother cry as she saw what was left. My parents always made it a point to emphasize the giving and why. As an adult I have a nativity that is my favorite decor (saying alot from someone who has 12 christmas trees), I display it prominently and then I have one for Greyson's room that he gets to put together as we read the Christmas story. Also we have one Christmas tree that is very simple and we put white envelopes on it with our gift to Christ. We open them on either Christmas eve or Christmas morning after presents to remind ourselves the gift we promised to give our Savior. Sorry this is so long.
Ok this the third time I attempt to comment on your post. Each time I hsve been interupted and have had to start over. So I have lost the zeal to write a lot. ok, I have to agree with Trish, I couldn't have said it better. Landon and I are still thinking of ways to bring Christ in to Christmas more and when we find a good one I will let you know so far I haven't adopted anything permanently. Sorry for the crappy comment, but I had to say somthing because each minute that went by that I hadn't written anything the guiltier I felt. Alicia
What a great question! You're getting some awesome diolouge. I think Christmas and Easter too are great ways to teach our children about the difference between the world's view and the Lord's way. Christmas is such a magical time for all of us, especially for children. I think we'll always try to focus on the giving part of Christmas, not the getting part.
I looked at your question about Santa or not, and I think that it is a very valid question. My answer is both, if you think about the kind of person that Nicholas Clause really was; well he was kind, compassionate and made it possible for many children to feel like they were someone special. He wanted them to have gifts when they otherwise wouldn't of had anything. Now if we think about Christ and how important he is in our life. He should be the center of everything we do. He is the one that made it possible for us to experience life. He is the one that makes us feel happy and wanted. So.... in my opinion, Santa Clause was trying to be more like the Savior, whether he knew who Jesus Christ was or not, and whether he is fiction or not. Jesus Christ is the great example of kindness, compassion and love. So if you could give an example in Santa Clause trying to be more like the Savior, who's birth we celebrate. So.... in my mind it would be appropriate to celebrate the Savior's birth by showing examples of his love for us(like Santa Clause's love for the children), which creates a reason behind what the Savior did for us and a meaning behind WHY his birth was so important and WHY we celebrate his birth. In my mind we celebrate his birth because of his life, which makes his birth significant. ----------------------------------- Thanks for all of your responses. Hopefully we all continue to strive to make Christ the center of our daily lives as well as the center of our Christmas celebrations.
9 comments:
Well hello Darc! As you know via our conversation the other night, I do not believe in taking Santa out of Christmas. While the main focus should absolutely be our Savior and his birth, they call it chilhood for a reason. Santa is such a magical part of not just the 25th, but of the season. He teaches our children the spirit of giving. We're only children for so long and eventually, and no matter what, we all learn the truth about Santa. To me Santa is part of being a kid...and I feel it's so important to let our children be just that! There are other ways we can put the focus onto Christ. In our house this year the children will be receiving only three gifts each, in symbolizing the three gifts given to baby Jesus by the wise men. We read the story of the nativity from the scriptures. We display a nativity and talk about why we do. There are several, several ways to do this...and I absolutely think that every family should. In short, which this isn't, I think we should celebrate the birth of Christ, but aren't celebrations supposed to be fun?
Hey Darci,
Santa vs no Santa... to me, Christmas isn't Christmas without Santa.
Maybe that's because I didn't go to church as a kid like you guys. Maybe it's cause I don't know all the details of Christ's Birth... or "The story of the nativity" that Trish (Hi Trish... I'm Jay... your Cousin :P) mentioned. But I do agree with Trish that Santa adds a magic to Christmas... and makes it fun... and kids should have that.
So, I say keep Santa... but make sure your kids know it's about giving gifts... not getting them. How to do that? Maybe start by making gifts together... painting rocks, drawing pictures, anything personal that YOU did... and you give it to someone special. You can bring in store-bought presents when you think yor kids understand it's about giving gifts... and not receiving them.
Will that work? I don't know. You guys probably have a better idea on that than me atm... you're married and have kids; I'm not... but I hope to be soon!
Hey Darc,
I have different feelings about Santa. I don't think Santa fits into the Christmas celebration in any way other than to detract from the focus of Christ. When I was little and I figured out that santa wasn't real I wasn't shocked or disappointed. Christmas was still as exciting as before and just as "magical". It didn't ruin my childhood or make me like Christmas any less. Even after I knew Santa wasn't real as a kid I still focused entirely on santa and not Christ. Oh don't get me wrong I knew what Christmas was really about but when santa is in the picture it is really hard to focus on Christ. It is confusing. This troubled me when I became an adult and had children of my own. I think Santa as they say in the scriptures is "an incorrect tradition handed down for generations" we are told to stand above the world and if that means standing alone while expressing unpoppular oppinions...so be it. Why can't Christmas be just as exciting and magical awaiting the birthday of the Savior and not the arrival of a make belive man? My kids know that santa is make believe. We invite Christ into our home on Christmas not Santa.
I think that you can make Christ and Santa a part of Christmas. One thing that our family did each Christmas was to give Christ a "gift"- something that we were going to do during the upcoming year for Him. On Christmas Eve we would each write our "gift" on a slip of paper and we had a little box with a gold lid that we put them in. Then the next Christmas Eve we would open the box and read what the gifts were. We also did the twelve days of Christmas a couple of years. I remember being so excited to put the gifts together and take them to the family we had picked and try to deliver the gift and run away before they could see who it was from. As far as Santa goes, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Santa- especially for the children. It's so sad when kids don't believe in Santa anymore. It takes the fun out of it for the parents, I think. As long as Santa gifts aren't taken to an extreme (ie:kids getting everything single thing on their wishlist and still expecting more after that) it can be fun for both parents and kids. Like Jeremy said in his post- You have to focus more on the giving than the receiving.
well my youngest one. if i'd had my way when you kids were growingf up, we would have given more to othersa than we got. it's all about christ and his gift to us. you can make christmas fun by picking out a family and becoming a secret follower of christ and give to others. use giving as your christmas tradition. charity will get you into heaven quicker than getting presents from santa clause. the reason for the season is christ, not walmart,target....etc..... pop
As a child and even into adulthood Christmas is a magical season. It has to do with lights, trees, decor, santa, and the love and concern that we feel to others, and of course Christ. As a child we received a ton of gifts but my very favorite memories are of reading the Bible story each night in December, putting out the nativity and anxiously unwrapping each animal and character and putting them in their place, and of picking a family and shopping and wrapping and cooking things for them. Then running to their door and watching the mother cry as she saw what was left. My parents always made it a point to emphasize the giving and why. As an adult I have a nativity that is my favorite decor (saying alot from someone who has 12 christmas trees), I display it prominently and then I have one for Greyson's room that he gets to put together as we read the Christmas story. Also we have one Christmas tree that is very simple and we put white envelopes on it with our gift to Christ. We open them on either Christmas eve or Christmas morning after presents to remind ourselves the gift we promised to give our Savior. Sorry this is so long.
Ok this the third time I attempt to comment on your post. Each time I hsve been interupted and have had to start over. So I have lost the zeal to write a lot. ok, I have to agree with Trish, I couldn't have said it better. Landon and I are still thinking of ways to bring Christ in to Christmas more and when we find a good one I will let you know so far I haven't adopted anything permanently. Sorry for the crappy comment, but I had to say somthing because each minute that went by that I hadn't written anything the guiltier I felt. Alicia
What a great question! You're getting some awesome diolouge. I think Christmas and Easter too are great ways to teach our children about the difference between the world's view and the Lord's way. Christmas is such a magical time for all of us, especially for children. I think we'll always try to focus on the giving part of Christmas, not the getting part.
Elder Jared Fillmore Wrote:
I looked at your question about Santa or not, and I think that it is a very
valid question. My answer is both, if you think about the kind of person that
Nicholas Clause really was; well he was kind, compassionate and made it possible
for many children to feel like they were someone special. He wanted them to have
gifts when they otherwise wouldn't of had anything. Now if we think about
Christ and how important he is in our life. He should be the center of
everything we do. He is the one that made it possible for us to experience life.
He is the one that makes us feel happy and wanted. So.... in my opinion, Santa
Clause was trying to be more like the Savior, whether he knew who Jesus Christ
was or not, and whether he is fiction or not. Jesus Christ is the great example
of kindness, compassion and love. So if you could give an example in Santa
Clause trying to be more like the Savior, who's birth we celebrate. So....
in my mind it would be appropriate to celebrate the Savior's birth by
showing examples of his love for us(like Santa Clause's love for the
children), which creates a reason behind what the Savior did for us and a
meaning behind WHY his birth was so important and WHY we celebrate his birth. In
my mind we celebrate his birth because of his life, which makes his birth
significant.
-----------------------------------
Thanks for all of your responses. Hopefully we all continue to strive to make Christ the center of our daily lives as well as the center of our Christmas celebrations.
-Darci
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