Jason and I were both raised believing in the idea of Santa Claus. It gave us plenty of magical Christmas mornings and childhood memories BUT it did shift our focus from Jesus and family to wishlists and presents.
We are doing something a little different with our son and we are working on teaching him that Santa is a character- just like Mickey. He’s in lots of movies and books and we can meet him at Disney but that he is pretend. I said it... pretend.
I know you’re thinking that we are the worst parents in the entire universe and I am certain that we are but my goal is not for my child to behave well for a month because of an elf or a nice list. My goal is not for him to flip through ads and walk down aisles with wishes of getting all the things. We really try to keep Christmas minimal with gifts- he gets a handful of presents.
We were visiting Disney a week ago and while waiting in line to meet Santa, multiple cast members harmlessly asked my son what he wanted for Christmas. It made me cringe! He didn’t have a response for any of them because he doesn’t even know he has options or to ask for something! Why can’t Christmas just be about receiving a surprise and being thankful for it!?
Aside from the gifts, we also really want our son to look forward to the season of Christmas. The lights, the trees, going to see a movie on Christmas day. Those are the moments I want him to cherish the most. This is about the birth of CHRIST. It’s the most spectacular birthday celebration annually that there ever was and if I can keep him focused on that, then I feel like maybe I’m not failing after all!? I mean, who has time for that dumb elf anyway!?