Handling Santa

Credit: Creative Commons (Kathleen Conklin)

Last week at my girls' dance class, my wife Jennifer got some very unkind looks from several parents. The reason: Our three-year-old Bethany had responded to her teacher's question to the class about what all the girls had asked Santa to bring them with a matter of fact reply: "Santa isn't real."

Jennifer and I have made the choice not to "do Santa" at our house. Now, this doesn't mean we're on some crusade or anything, or that we take delight in ruining other kids' fun. We understand that Santa adds a lot of fun for some families, but our main concern is that participating in this particular tradition would involve telling our kids a lie--that Santa is a real person.

Several folks better-versed than I in history have covered the legend of Santa and St. Nicholas. For some great background on the legend of Santa, St. Nicholas of the 3rd and 4th centuries, and some reasons not to celebrate Santa at your house, I recommend the following posts:

"Who Was Saint Nicholas?" by Mark Driscoll

"What We Tell Our Kids About Santa" by Mark Driscoll

"Theology lesson: the attributes of...who?" by Noel Piper

While we don't celebrate Santa, we try to make sure our kids don't ruin anyone else's traditions (considering the dance class fiasco, we obviously need to work on it a bit). We've decided to teach our kids what we know about the real St. Nicholas. Last week, I was explaining to Bethany (who will turn four in January) the legend of Santa and what history can tell us about St. Nicholas of the third and fourth centuries. We know from history--as best as we can tell from the sources available--that Nicholas of Myra was known as a generous pastor and bishop, and often gave gifts to children and families in need. I told Bethany that Nicholas loved Jesus and is in heaven with him now, but he was so generous, people like to pretend he's still alive here on Earth as Santa. Bethany's mind pondered that for a few seconds. After some thought, her face lit up, and she exclaimed, "Now it's OUR job to give toys to kids who don't have any!" and she excitedly took me to a bag of things her and her Mama had set aside that day to give away. I'll take that storyline over the legend of Santa any day of the week.

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