What do you do when your kids figure out the Santa scam?
Yup, that's what they'll call it, a scam. They've been lied to, and they want to know why, and what you're gonna do about it! Some little smarty pants figure it out terribly, unfairly early. We don't get to play pretend with them nearly long enough. Then, they're the kid at school telling all the other kids, and you get emails from the teacher and calls from angry parents.
"How could you ruin their delusion? This is Kindergarten! Could you please stop your child from telling the other kids that there is no Santa Claus?" Yes, I got those calls.
The problem is, I don't care to lie to my kids. When they asked about Santa, they got a history lesson. When they asked about Frosty, they got a pop culture lesson. When they asked about baby Jesus they got a Bible lesson. They know Dec. 25th isn't his real birthday and why the church decided to celebrate at that particular time anyway. And they know Santa Claus was a real saint, with a real purpose, then a story, then an advertising campaign, and now...
Now I remind them that they're always trying to get adults to play pretend with them, and that this is the one time of year that most every adult is willing to play pretend with all the kids. Why? Because Santa represents an ideal of generosity, a spirit of joy in giving.
The real Saint Nicholas was originally depicted as a man of sorrow. He grieved for children living in poverty. That we can see him today as a man of joy is indicative of how the world has changed. Today's poverty is not what St. Nicholas faced. We don't send our poor to slave away in work houses and die early. We don't, on the whole, blame poverty on the poor and heap additional punishments on them. Poverty is still a real problem, but most of us are looking for opportunities to change that.
While there is no magical Santa delivering presents around the world in his sleigh, there are still presents under even the poorest trees. Because all of us are inspired by his example, we carry on his work wherever we see the need. Whether it's Project Angel Tree sending gifts to the children of incarcerated prisoners, Samaritan's Purse sending shoe box gifts to poor children in nations around the world, or your local Salvation Army meeting needs in your own neighborhood, there are many widely supported organizations doing the work this saint inspired. Even when money is scarce, we get resourceful to make sure our kids have a Merry Christmas.
We make sure they learn to participate in the giving side as well, from dropping change in Salvation Army buckets as toddlers (I never spend my change in December so they have something to give whenever we see a bucket), to putting together gifts for an orphanage in India, to serving the homeless as they get older. Giving is one of the languages of love. We experience love by receiving, and express it by giving. There's always room in the world for more love.
The Santa scam persists, not because we want to deceive to our children, but because we want them to feel there is love in the world without condition. (We tell them they have to be good, but really, our standards aren't that high.) We want to give them this experience early so they can eventually express love in equal measure.
This time of year, a lot of people complain about American materialistic excess, and capitalistic greed. I would argue that we are the most generous nation on earth. That our poverty is still wealth, compared to most of the world. Even at our poorest, we found ways to give. And that ability to give when we have little, that is wealth. Christmas, and Santa, bring that out in us. They pull us out of the dreary darkness of winter, the mundane middle of the school year, and make us rich in ways that our paychecks can't.
Now that all of my children know the truth about Santa, I've recruited them to the other side. They're pretenders. They start calling me Mommy Claus this time of year, and ask to be my little elves. I like this better. We can all be Santa, Saints, taking care of widows and orphans, because that is the purest religion. That's what the grown up Jesus told people. He inspired Saint Nicholas, so why should there be any conflict between them? But that's another post, and one of those religious arguments I try to avoid.
I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season, and enjoying the preparations for Christmas as much as I am!
Yup, that's what they'll call it, a scam. They've been lied to, and they want to know why, and what you're gonna do about it! Some little smarty pants figure it out terribly, unfairly early. We don't get to play pretend with them nearly long enough. Then, they're the kid at school telling all the other kids, and you get emails from the teacher and calls from angry parents.
"How could you ruin their delusion? This is Kindergarten! Could you please stop your child from telling the other kids that there is no Santa Claus?" Yes, I got those calls.
The problem is, I don't care to lie to my kids. When they asked about Santa, they got a history lesson. When they asked about Frosty, they got a pop culture lesson. When they asked about baby Jesus they got a Bible lesson. They know Dec. 25th isn't his real birthday and why the church decided to celebrate at that particular time anyway. And they know Santa Claus was a real saint, with a real purpose, then a story, then an advertising campaign, and now...
Now I remind them that they're always trying to get adults to play pretend with them, and that this is the one time of year that most every adult is willing to play pretend with all the kids. Why? Because Santa represents an ideal of generosity, a spirit of joy in giving.
The real Saint Nicholas was originally depicted as a man of sorrow. He grieved for children living in poverty. That we can see him today as a man of joy is indicative of how the world has changed. Today's poverty is not what St. Nicholas faced. We don't send our poor to slave away in work houses and die early. We don't, on the whole, blame poverty on the poor and heap additional punishments on them. Poverty is still a real problem, but most of us are looking for opportunities to change that.
While there is no magical Santa delivering presents around the world in his sleigh, there are still presents under even the poorest trees. Because all of us are inspired by his example, we carry on his work wherever we see the need. Whether it's Project Angel Tree sending gifts to the children of incarcerated prisoners, Samaritan's Purse sending shoe box gifts to poor children in nations around the world, or your local Salvation Army meeting needs in your own neighborhood, there are many widely supported organizations doing the work this saint inspired. Even when money is scarce, we get resourceful to make sure our kids have a Merry Christmas.
We make sure they learn to participate in the giving side as well, from dropping change in Salvation Army buckets as toddlers (I never spend my change in December so they have something to give whenever we see a bucket), to putting together gifts for an orphanage in India, to serving the homeless as they get older. Giving is one of the languages of love. We experience love by receiving, and express it by giving. There's always room in the world for more love.
The Santa scam persists, not because we want to deceive to our children, but because we want them to feel there is love in the world without condition. (We tell them they have to be good, but really, our standards aren't that high.) We want to give them this experience early so they can eventually express love in equal measure.
This time of year, a lot of people complain about American materialistic excess, and capitalistic greed. I would argue that we are the most generous nation on earth. That our poverty is still wealth, compared to most of the world. Even at our poorest, we found ways to give. And that ability to give when we have little, that is wealth. Christmas, and Santa, bring that out in us. They pull us out of the dreary darkness of winter, the mundane middle of the school year, and make us rich in ways that our paychecks can't.
Now that all of my children know the truth about Santa, I've recruited them to the other side. They're pretenders. They start calling me Mommy Claus this time of year, and ask to be my little elves. I like this better. We can all be Santa, Saints, taking care of widows and orphans, because that is the purest religion. That's what the grown up Jesus told people. He inspired Saint Nicholas, so why should there be any conflict between them? But that's another post, and one of those religious arguments I try to avoid.
I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season, and enjoying the preparations for Christmas as much as I am!
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