I don't remember ever believing in Santa Claus. I know we never sat in his lap. (Walker County didn't have a mall until I was in middle school!) I know my parents weren't opposed to the notion of Santa, as many of our presents were signed "from Mr. and Mrs. Claus" or "From Santa & His Wife" but I never believed. Maybe because I recognized Daddy's handwriting, maybe because I knew Santa used the same wrapping paper as my parents (or maybe because my little sister found the hidden stash of presents EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR). But I do know by the time I was in middle school if any of my siblings joined me in making a gift for Mom and Dad, we would sign it "From Santa's elves".
One Christmas I watched my brother-in-law set things up for his girls, and I asked him if he needed help wrapping presents (a lot of the gifts were unwrapped under the tree). He looked at me like I was crazy and said "Santa doesn't wrap his presents. He doesn't have time." I was a bit discomforted at the level to which they took the whole Santa thing, but like a good aunt, I would just listen. When my nieces asked me if Santa was real, I borrowed my cousin's example and replied, "What do you think?"
I think if we had our own children, I would probably be like my parents and let them know about Saint Nicholas and the myths, but I don't think I'd push it as something true that required letters and such. My first year in China, when we had an open house so our students could see American Christmas decorations, almost every group of students would have someone point to the wooden nativity and ask which one was Santa. It was quite sad. Seeing how people the world over know about our beliefs in Santa Claus but not our beliefs in Jesus really bothered me. To this day, the only Santa in my house are two small tree ornaments. Reindeer, snowmen, bears...yes. And I recognize this is a very personal decision and I certainly don't have a problem with anyone else having Santa decorations, but it's just not for me. My husband was laughing at me yesterday asking just how many nativity sets I was going to use to decorate with this year, and found it funny that I forgot how many I had. But that's a post for another day. :)
One Christmas I watched my brother-in-law set things up for his girls, and I asked him if he needed help wrapping presents (a lot of the gifts were unwrapped under the tree). He looked at me like I was crazy and said "Santa doesn't wrap his presents. He doesn't have time." I was a bit discomforted at the level to which they took the whole Santa thing, but like a good aunt, I would just listen. When my nieces asked me if Santa was real, I borrowed my cousin's example and replied, "What do you think?"
I think if we had our own children, I would probably be like my parents and let them know about Saint Nicholas and the myths, but I don't think I'd push it as something true that required letters and such. My first year in China, when we had an open house so our students could see American Christmas decorations, almost every group of students would have someone point to the wooden nativity and ask which one was Santa. It was quite sad. Seeing how people the world over know about our beliefs in Santa Claus but not our beliefs in Jesus really bothered me. To this day, the only Santa in my house are two small tree ornaments. Reindeer, snowmen, bears...yes. And I recognize this is a very personal decision and I certainly don't have a problem with anyone else having Santa decorations, but it's just not for me. My husband was laughing at me yesterday asking just how many nativity sets I was going to use to decorate with this year, and found it funny that I forgot how many I had. But that's a post for another day. :)
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