I thought this was an interesting article that I would pass along. Feel free to post your opinions about this issue in the comment section below. The original article is by Mark Driscoll and can be viewed HERE.
What We Tell Our Kids About Santa
Redeeming Santa
So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.
We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave us can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children.
While Being Truthful
What we are concerned about, though, is lying to our children. We teach them that they can always trust us because we will tell them the truth and not lie to them. Conversely, we ask that they be honest with us and never lie. Since we also teach our children that Jesus is a real person who did perform real miracles, our fear is that if we teach them fanciful, make-believe stories as truth, it could erode confidence in our truthfulness where it really matters.
So, we distinguish between lies, secrets, surprises, and pretend for our kids. We ask them not to tell lies or keep secrets, but do teach them that some surprises (like gift-giving) and pretending (like dressing up) can be fun and should be encouraged. We tell them the truth and encourage them to have fun watching Christmas shows on television and even sitting on Santa’s lap for a holiday photo if they so desire. For parents of younger children wanting them to learn the real story of Santa Claus the Veggie Tales movie Saint Nicholas is a good choice.
This post is excerpted from an article originally published in the Washington Post’s On Faith blog. For more on the historical Saint Nicholas, read yesterday’s post “Who Was Saint Nicholas?”
December 23, 2011 at 10:13 am
As is expected, Mark Driscoll nailed it on the head. I completely agree with that approach and (with some variation) have done the same thing with our children. I know it isn’t the conservatively acceptable approach nor is it the liberally acceptable approach, which is why I am pretty sure it is the right approach. It takes it right down the middle, “rightly dividing” what we need to know about Santa and what we understand to just be creative imagination. Thanks!