Relax already... Santa is not going to morally bankrupt our kids!!

I felt that I needed to weigh in on this whole Santa issue - it frustrates me that it's such a big deal!! I respect those who choose not to play Santa, but I'm just not sure we always get the same respect in return. I have several friends whose families either don't celebrate Santa or whose kids have aged out of it. Three of their kids have told my oldest this year that Santa isn't real! Not because she asked them and they didn't want to lie - but because they just felt the need to tell her. I think it's about them knowing something that she doesn't and feeling the need to prove her wrong. GGGRRRR! I just don't know why this is such a big deal - if we want to celebrate with Santa - cool - if someone else doesn't - cool! It's a family decision and I'm not sure why anyone else gets to state their opinion about how my husband and I teach our children. They can surely have an opinion and they should make the appropriate decisions for their families, but let me have peace about the decisions I make for mine!

There's always an argument about something - Santa/no Santa, homeschool/public school, immunize/don't immunize, breastfeed/bottle feed...geez, I wish everyone would relax and just worry about raising their own happy, healthy children. Quit judging already!!

I gotta' tell you - we are a Santa family all the way! :) I just so loved the thrill of Santa growing up, that I couldn't not share that same fun with my girls. That's what it is to me - a great fun childhood fantasy that they'll someday treasure like I do mine! I just can't imagine that they won't see the joy and fun in what we're doing - I never resented my parents for it or even thought if it as them having lied to me! They just loved me and wanted to share that joy with me.

To us it's just the same as reading a book of fiction or watching a great movie about something impossible or even allowing them to pretend that they're something that they're not and never can be! :) I guess that's it - it's just a great big, fun game of pretend that we get to participate in with them.

I saw a response to a friend's blog that seemed to indicate that we can't possibly effectively teach our children about Jesus AND practice the Santa fantasy. Puhlease -just talk to my girls and you'll see immediately that they know the real reason for Christmas and that the gift receiving, Santa, Christmas lights, TV shows are all just to make the season a little more fun. Some people act as though Santa is almost satanic and that we are going to damage our children by doing it! I was raised with Santa and so was my husband, and I like to think we both turned out pretty good - with strong Christian and moral values. Heck, our church let's us teach and lead the teenagers - we must be fairly okay! I happen to know that even the pastor of our church and his family were Santa people, in fact, they took their kids to the "North Pole" (Boone, NC) every year to visit Santa when they were small. I tend to think they are pretty strong in their Christian walk and look to them as spiritual advisors, so I figure if it's okay for them, it's surely okay for me!

Mostly I just think we need to all chill out and enjoy the season with our families in whatever traditions we choose to create. I look back on my Christmas' with great joy and sentimentality and I hope that one day my girls will look back on theirs just the same and that my grandchildren will be visited by Santa! :)