History & Traditions > Christmas
By Jen S Carter
In the film, Miracle on 34th Street, the saddest part is the idea of a child who doesn't believe that there's such a thing as a real Santa Claus. The story is all about restoring the joy that should be present in the life of every child.
No-one wants to be a killjoy, but how can you reconcile being a Christian with encouraging your child to believe in the fantasy that is Santa Claus?
As someone who came to faith whilst their children were young, I came across an interesting way of handling this situation.
We had just explained to our children about Jesus, reading them stories about him and telling them the wonderful story of Christmas.
The thought that they would one day grow up and realise that the stories of Santa were just a fiction for children was bad enough - but what if they were to make the obvious connection that we'd also told them "stories" about Jesus and start to question that too? If we were going to tell them anything it had to be the truth.
With great fear and trepidation, I broached the conversation one mealtime - "Children, you know that we've told you stories about Santa. About how he climbs down the chimney and fills your stockings with gifts? Well, there's something you need to know, Santa is just a story and he isn't real".
Waiting with baited breath for the reaction, I was most taken aback when my eldest son simply looked at me and said, "Oh Mummy, don't be silly , EVERYONE knows that Santa is real!" and all the children started laughing as if I must be the silliest mother in the world.
Ever since then we've had this joking relationship about Santa - where they realise I must be the craziest mum not to know about him - and I've been able to be honest with them about what's true and what isn't. Each of them has come to know for themselves the difference between children's stories and the story of a baby that was born in a stable.
My kids are all now grown-up, they never lost the magic of Christmas - in fact, they all hold the magic of Christmas in their hearts.
