Santa = Leverage?
I have really had a hard time with the whole "Santa" complex since I've had kids. Since I am a Christian and believe that Christmas is only about celebrating the Birth of my Redeemer, I have always been disgusted with the way the world has taken on Santa and uses every marketing ploy to get us to think the holiday is all about shopping, gift-giving and parties. While I do love that part about it, I have always hated that it seems some kids don't even really know what Christmas is about because of the onslaught of toy-marketing and endless Christmas shows with Santa.
To make a long story longer, I despise Santa, and that we, as parents continue to feed the "magical Santa" c-r-a-p to our kids year after year. I boldly told my husband that I would not support it because I didn't want to confuse my kids about the real reason we celebrate. So I would casually tell my kids whenever they would get too excited about Santa, I would mention that he is just the pretend, fun-part of Christmas. That logic has never set in, and my kids were just too young to even grasp what I was trying to teach them.
This year, I was determined to keep up the honesty of Christmas with them, until I started to notice how much the Santa ploy could really be used to my advantage.
Leverage...pure and simple leverage!
Every time my kids start to act negatively or display behavior I don't agree with, I found myself saying that I would call Santa to let him know that their "status" of being a 'Nice' child was changing to 'Naughty' unless the behavior stopped. Holy cow, did that work!
So, where does that put my feelings with Santa...you could say that I still won't put my kids whole heart and faith in him, but maybe while I can, I think I might use him for a little while longer.
6 comments:
Amen! The first time I heard myself say something like, "if you don't stop hitting your sister, Santa won't come this year", I was repulsed. And then, it worked so well... I didn't have to threaten time-out or whatever my threat of the hour is. I hate it when things like this work.
That is so funny! I will have to keep that one in mind. I think it is possible to have a nice mixture of the christmas season. I enjoy both parts of christmas. I love to celebrate the birth of the Savior and learn more about it at christmas time. I think at the same time it is fun to get excited about Santa and christmas morning. I am going to try to work in both parts as my kids get older but I know that will be hard because Santa is a lot more fun than the nativity story. :)
I hope you guys have a great christmas this year. It is sad we won't be seeing you. :( Mom and Dad's house is going to be so depressing without everyone else there.
I agree! The Santa/presents part of Christmas has gone overboard in this country. We try and keep things in check by teaching our kids Christmas is Jesus's birthday first and foremost. They think Santa is a magical figure who helps spread happiness like Jesus did. That being said, Santa (real or not) is definite leverage for us! :) How many times have I heard myself say "OK, I guess I'll have to call Santa about that behavior".
Being here in Germany, it is amazing to hear about how the Germans celebrate Christmas. I have started to ask a lot about how things are done. I mean, I have always known they celebrate on December 24th. But I wanted to know more. You see, they don't have Santa. They have St Nikolaus that comes the beginning of December and fills up a boot with loot, kind of like our stockings. All presents they receive at Christmas is from the Christ Child. Nothing from Mom or Dad, Nothing From Santa. I thought that was amazing. I am still very intrigued and plan on learning even more. As we plan on celebrating christmas at least once like the Germans before we leave here.
Tamara,
I am German, and I grew up celebrating the same way! Saint Nicholas brings gifts on December 6th (this is the shoe you spoke of!. In German lore, the Christkind, or Christmas Angel(baby Jesus) leaves presents under the tree on Christmas Eve.
We still celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with our children and they know that the presents are from Jesus. Of course, in this country Santa is so big that we kind of have to include him. We tell the kids that he is someone who helps deliver the presents (like a mailman :) ).
HAHA all I can say is welcome to the wonderful world of bribery! I love holding santa over my kids heads, and get a sweet smile on my face when Levi asks where Jesus' birthday cake is.. it is possible to combine both make belief and true belief.
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