We had a great time getting to visit most of our family this year. We had 3 days of Christmas back to back so the girls were a little like zombies by the end of day 3. I think the girls got enough toys to totally re-up their playroom. They don't even know where to start. We got them bikes, stuffed animals, bath robes and bath stuff. They are both learning how to ride bikes, so the excitement was more about putting on all the knee pads and helmets and then us pushing them around! The place we are moving to is fabulous for kids riding bikes so they'll enjoy it more when we get there.
We have always gone back and forth about Santa. Do we go along with the culture and tell them in all honesty that this guy brings gifts to good kids, or do we tell them the story of Jesus's birth and explain that we give each other gifts this day to celebrate Jesus's birthday? It sounds obvious when you write it down, but what a cultural faux pas!
We decided to focus on Jesus so that their excitement about Christmas would revolve around the truth and there would never be a day they "found out" and the special feelings died. There is still the excitement of tomorrow being Jesus's birthday and all the celebration that lies ahead. There are still traditions we do including making a birthday cake, stockings, gifts, family, singing.
We have gotten our share of disapproving opinions about our decision for our family and I really think it is more of an issue for adults than our kiddos. Our girls are just a little confused by all the adults talking about Santa Claus. So we explain that people just pretend about Santa for fun. We realize this is counter-cultural and therefore there is much resistance. We expected it. However it is surprising that it comes mostly from Christians. If we who profess Christ as our savior don't keep that the focus of our Christmas celebration, who will? This is not meant to judge anyone else, this is just our observations as we wrestled through this decision for our family.
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