These made me smirk- yes, it is a bit irreverent, but Jesus is talking to 'Santa,' not Saint Nicholas
I've never been that big on the whole 'Santa' thing- Saint Nicholas brings chocolate (usually more courtesy of Father) on his feast day and comes back to fill the stockings on Christmas Eve. Big ticket items are given by the people who actually purchased them. I do love giving surprises; presents are fun even when a minimalist life might be easier. Renee, Byzantine Catholic mother and iconographer extraordinaire, blogged on the whole St Nicholas/ Santa/lying to kids dilemma. What do you think?
Reading through Renee's post, I'm just shocked that anyone would put so much thought into Santa. Keeping things consistent? Really?
ReplyDeleteWe play the Santa game at our house, as our parents did with us and their parents before them. The only people I've ever met whose parents didn't do Santa so as not to lie to their children are now angry atheists. Coincidence? I think not.
See, the way my parents told the Santa story made it clear after a few years that it was a game, a fun game, but just a game. The way my mother answered questions about Santa was flippant and nobody made an effort to keep things consistent, but she took religious questions seriously. Plus, even after we figured things out, Santa still came (unless you were bad and told someone younger, of course).
When I read the story of St. Nicholas to my 3 year old earlier this week, the book mentioned that the name Santa Claus comes from St. Nicholas. I told him that Santa is named after St. Nicholas, just like he and his daddy are. Santa secretly gives gifts to good little children because he got the idea from St. Nicholas. Hopefully my son will start imitating St. Nicholas in more than just slapping people who are WRONG, but maybe that's asking too much of a 3 year old ;)
Yeah, not into the Santa thing either. He's just not real. St. Nicholas's day we have the stockings, but that's it. Not sure what we'll say to the kids about Santa since I know so many people like to "do" Santa. But it's becoming more and more common that people tell their kids that there's no such thing.
ReplyDeleteAs for family, we don't live close to family so it's not even a factor. Maybe if we end up closer we'll deal with it then, but hopefully the kids will be older.
We do have a gift a day opened through Christmas to Epiphany. It's symbolic of the Epiphany. And it teaches patience since only one person gets to open one gift.
Maybe it's just me, but I remember feeling let down and lied to as a kid when I found out the whole Santa thing wasn't real. I had always found the idea of Santa to be somewhat confusing. I could never figure out what the connection was between the Incarnation and the Jolly Old Elf who traveled by flying reindeer and lived at the North Pole with his wife and a bunch of little toy-making elves.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Renee on this one. In our home, my kids know who St. Nicholas is and they know he's in Heaven with Jesus. Treats in their shoes on St. Nicholas Day are given in his memory. When they ask who leaves the gifts I tell them it's a secret but that St. Nicholas knows. The Communion of Saints is a beautiful thing! On the Feast of the Nativity, gifts from relatives are marked as such and gifts from us are given in secret. The Christmas Season has always been a very joyous time for our children.
BTW, you're so good....all you did was smirk at Coffee with Jesus...I laughed out loud...
-M
I was pleased when, while attending our local Christmas parade last week, our 3-year old son shouted, "Look! It's St. Nicholas!" when he saw Santa bringing up the rear of the parade as he always does, riding on the back of a big, red fire engine.
ReplyDelete