by mankkeli 41 Replies latest jw friends
I would teach the Santa idea was started to help motivate people to share with loved ones and those that are in need..Santa is represented by a jolly fat happy and hard working loving man..and he has a good wife and helpers..
No need to maek it out to be something evil and pagan and all tlhat other cra*..
No need to lie and act like he is some magic man that can produce presents out of the air..
JMO Snoozy.. (Teaching Morality and rationality in her thoughts.. )
There is no point in telling little kids that Santa isn't real unless they ask. After all, how many parents explain to their kid that other faiy tale characters aren't real? Kids eventually figure it out for themselves. When I did, I really appreciated the fact that my parents worked so hard to make Christmas so special for my brother and me.
There's no strictly right or wrong answer to this (and the other Christmas questions).
I would agree with some of the earlier posters - don't lie if they ask, but have fun with the santa thing. We bring our guys to see a Santa if he's at a Christmas party. At home though, we put all the presents under the tree a week before Christmas and open them on Christmas morning - everyone knows where the presents come from.
Have fun with it. Don't put yourself under pressure. Make your own traditions for your kids to follow. One of the great things about leaving the jws is you start with a clean slate. See what other people and cultures do, and keep the bits you like.
I prefer telling it as a story, and maybe re-enacting it. Sooner or later they are going to find out that it is not the truth--the part where they need to be asleep is going to catch up as another lie to hide the first. Best if presented by re-enacting the story, even letting the kids watch their parents (dressed as Santa) fill up the stockings.
As for the coal in the stocking, I don't advocate it for petty items. Such things as using a Kleenex or scrubbing the toes are not legitimate excuses for getting coal (or toilet paper dollars, whichever is worth the less) in one's stocking. Such would be reserved for truly serious items, such as being persistently mean-spirited for no good reason (which is extremely rare among children). If the parents can't afford to fill up the stockings, the truth would be the best policy--that the parents are playing Santa, and that they can't afford to put the best items in this year (or, for that matter, until the damn Rothschilds quit stealing 98% of our paychecks--THEY are the ones that really deserve the coal or worthless dollars).
Yes, it is moral and rational.
There is nothing immoral about the Santa thing. Lots of cultures have stories like this for children. These stories serve a cultural purpose in raising Children. That's how I looked at it, anyway.
I told my kids that Santa was real. I told them how much Santa loved the children and wanted them to be good, blah, blah, blah.
Then, when they got older, they confronted me about it...and I told them:
"Yes, Santa is real, but now, by asking these questions, you show that you are old enough to know who he is. You are old enough to know the secret. You already know Santa keeps track of how you are doing, he loves you, he provides you with wonderful things. Now you are older...and you want to know if he is real? He is REAL. But the secret is that 'Santa' is not just one man...'Santa' is all the adults in your life who have been raising you and loving you! Santa is uncle Jim. Santa is your dad. Santa is me. Santa is the neighbor lady, Mrs. Jones. We are the ones who have been loving you and keeping track of how you have been doing and we are the ones who put the gifts under the tree. WE are Santa. And now, because you have shown you are old enough, YOU ARE SANTA, TOO! Now YOU are helping to raise the little ones, keep an eye on how they are doing as they grow, and you will secretly get them gifts at Christmas! Because now you are Santa, too! It is a serious responsibility, all this helping to raise little ones to be good, setting an example, and carrying on the Christmas traditions, but it is also so fun! Congratulations!"
It was awesome. And it was the truth.
I'm a born-in and I remember as a child wishing like hell that there was a Santa and that he would just once leave me a present. My wish never came true but I made sure my children were able to have the experience of believing in Santa.
It was a lovely time when they were small. The excitement they had the night before Christmas was sweet. When we lived in a 3 story apartment building my kids asked how was Santa going to be able to deliver the presents (we didn't have a chimney). Thankfully we lived on the third floor and I showed them the door to the roof and said that Santa would land up there and come thru that door. I also told the that Santa only came when kids were asleep in bed, that was one of the few times when there wasn't a fight about bedtime. Funny seeing the kids runs for their beds. We also made cookies for Santa (always my fav cookies ) and set out a carrot for the reindeer. It always tickled me to see the look on the kids' faces as they examined the half eaten cookies, the chewed piece of carrot, and the note of thank you from Santa. I think I had just as much fun being Santa as my children had believing in Santa.
This topic has come up on this board a few times before (always close to the holidays) and I've asked my children if they have any hard feelings about finding out Santa isn't real. The responses I got always came with a smile of remembrance and a no.
I had a boy in my Sunday school class that told me he kicked his Dad for lying to him about Santa. It was a matter of trust to him. My kid's knew the truth about Santa from square one. We told them they could always trust us to tell them the truth and we followed through. As I see it, God and Santa are so much alike in the mind of a child, that the loss of faith in one can damage the other. In spite of knowing the truth our kids always loved Christmas and joked about what "Santa" brought them.
BTW, as kids, we always had Christmas, because my non-JW Mom put her foot down with my Dad when he was with the Witnesses. I'm thankful for that.
My Son who is 8 asks why Santa never brings Charlie Brown anything........
I tell him
Santa and I had a Falling out years and years ago and now.......
He gives me no Presents.
I wasn't in the truth when I found out about Santa........
At first I was devistated.....but once Xmas came around.....
I STILL GOT PRESENTS FROM SANTA!
So I could've cared less!
We leave Cookies and Milk for Santa and also a thank you note....
Milk is half drunk....cookie with a bite out of it....
And a .....
Your Welcome...Love Santa Clause
Since I'm Santa and he will find out very soon...
What's the harm???
What's Worse?
Santa or Demons
And it's only 2 months away....
MERRY X-MAS EVERYBODY!
I can't think of anything good that comes from presenting a fairy-tale as truth.
