Even though the leaves are just now starting to change in my area of Pennsylvania, Christmas is already on a lot of peoples' minds. I am already hearing how many weeks are left to shop and "get ready" for Christmas festivities. (I could get into a monologue about the true meaning of Christmas, but I'll leave that for another post)
If you know me, you have probably figured out that I have a hard time keeping quiet when I feel like there is something that needs to be said. With all of this talk about "playing Santa", and finding new hiding places for the "Elf on the Shelf", I would like to add my own thoughts. I realize this will probably be an unpopular post, and, disclaimer, I am NOT trying to offend anybody who reads this, but I feel the need to share why David and I will not have our future children believe in Santa Claus or Elf on the Shelf.
First of all, society is obsessed enough with material possessions as it is. It feels like every Christmas must be more and more extravagant than the last, and we have to start shopping earlier, and, hey, lets add a creepy new tradition of putting an Elf on the shelf to spy on our kids for Santa...and as if that's not enough, let's move the elf around the house each night and have it do mischievous things like break a dish or knock over a container of flour and leave foot prints (not kidding, some people take it that far)...
You may be thinking that I don't know what I am missing, but you're wrong.
I DID grow up believing in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy etc... To a child, what could be more exciting than a magical being that gives us gifts?! I got some great gifts from "Santa", and was always amazed that I could never catch a glimpse of him, no matter how hard I tried. I still remember the evening that I found out Santa wasn't real. I was furious, not just because I was mad that in the universe there did not exist a jolly fat man that brings children presents, but also at my parents for lying to me about it. "If you lied to me about this, what else did you lie to me about? How do I know anything you say is true?". Yes, I was a very dramatic and inquisitive child. Now, this experience didn't scar me for life or anything, but it did ruin that innocent belief that I could trust everything my parents told me.
David did not grow up believing in Santa. He knew that Santa was a "fun pretend tradition" for the holiday, and that it was not his place to tell other children the truth, it was their parents' job.
In this cruel and unpredictable world we live in, I believe children should be able to trust their parents. It's our job to be their teachers, and to set the example for them to follow. I just don't feel right about carrying out a lie year after year, and having to make it more and more extravagant so that they continue to believe when their intelligent minds start to question its validity.
This leads me to my next reason:
I don't want to ever have a moment where my children say to David and I, "If you lied to me about Santa being real, did you lie to me about Jesus too?" It would be hard to restore my credibility after a question like that.
Even if you aren't a Christian, you can see how lying to our children destroys their ability to have faith in what we say. Not only that, but using Santa or the Elf on a Shelf as a threat to make children behave, is, in my opinion, just a crutch for proper parenting (Not to mention I find Elf on the Shelf to be incredibly creepy - I don't want my kids worrying that a little doll is watching them all day and reporting their behavior to Santa). Children shouldn't behave just to earn gifts, or out of fear from the threat that gifts will not be given if they are bad! I don't want my children thinking that they "deserve" or are entitled to a reward for being good or obeying their parents either.
Finally, my most important reason: Christmas is about JESUS! It's the celebration of Christ's birth, or at least it is supposed to be. I want to make sure that the traditions my children take away from Christmas are: celebrating God's Son coming into this world to be our Savior, being together as a family, a beautiful candlelight church service, and sure, exchanging a few gifts with each other - in that order! Yes, we will still do presents on Christmas, but they will be addressed from their proper gift givers - David and I - the people who actually do care if they behave, and who love them, and want them to have good things in life - NOT Santa.
As far as addressing your fears that my children will ruin Santa for your children. David and I hope to raise friendly respectful children that will be told not to ruin other families' traditions. No promises, but we really aren't trying to spoil everyone else's fun!
So there it is, the reasons that our future children will not believe in Santa Claus or Elf on the Shelf. Again, this is my own opinion and belief. It is not meant to upset anybody who does enjoy the tradition of Santa. This post is not supposed to start an argument either. It's just my own outlet for my opinion. It's supposed to be food for thought.
