Christmas

Well, I sat down originally to say that I was ready for Christmas, in all the usual ways - our Christmas letters have been written and sent, the presents have been purchased and wrapped, the stockings are hung on our entertainment center with care, etc.  But it just felt empty.  It just sounded wrong to say that I was ready for Christmas because I have bought gifts or decorated.  But am ready for Christmas in the true sense?  Have I thought about the miracle of Jesus' birth?  Have I talked to the kids about why this holiday holds such special meaning in our house?  This year, as the kids have gotten older and Elias has went to school, the push to emphasize Santa has became greater.  Now, I don't want to squash my kids belief in the magic of Christmas, but I also have issues with lying to them about their really being a Santa.  So, every time we are in a store and someone asks them if they are being good so Santa will put them on the "good" list, I tell them (once we are in the car, of course) that God is the one who watches over us and we want to do things to please Him and not because we want gifts.  It is difficult to balance letting them have their make-believe and also letting them know that God and Jesus are real and Christmas is not about getting gifts.  And, because Jesus has blessed us with a great gift, we can give gifts to one another.  So yesterday in the car, Bella and I hear the song "Santa Claus is coming to town" and she says, "He's not really coming to town because he isn't really real."  I had a moment where I thought, "Am I being too much of a stickler about this Santa business?".  I have never really told them there is not a Santa and we watch all the movies that have Santa in them, so I was sort of surprised that she said it so matter-of-fact.   But she thinks very concretely, so I don't want to confuse her by denying what she said. I just said in response, "Some like to have fun during Christmas and make-believe that Santa's real."  I can just hear my kids going to school and telling all the kids that Santa isn't real. 
In the past, we usually gave them one gift from Santa and the rest came from us.  The gift from Santa was usually the big, exciting one that they really wanted.  This year, we decided to change that.  We are going to put Santa's name on the small gifts in their their stocking, since historically, Saint Nicholas was said to put his gifts of food in people's stockings as they hung out to dry.  We got the new Veggie Tales movie that is about the story of St. Nicholas and so the kids know that is where the tradition of hanging stockings originated. That way, we can still have a little bit of Santa, but they aren't thinking they have to ask Santa for the gifts they have dreamt of having.  We brought one of Elias' schoolmates home from school the other day and conversation came to Christmas and gifts and Santa.  I was pleased with Elias' comment during this conversation with his little friend.  He said, "If you want to get a gift for Christmas, you pray to Jesus or our heavenly Father for it and then he gives your mommy and daddy the money to get it."  Of course, his theology isn't completely accurate, since God doesn't always provide every gift we ever ask for, but I was pleased to see that his thinking in regards to Christmas is on the right track.  I was also glad that he wasn't afraid to go against the flow and speak up about God's role in our lives.  Of course, I know this will change as he gets older and social pressure gets greater, but I am glad that he feels free to speak up at least for now.   Navigating all this is so much trickier than I expected.  I knew we would have difficulty trying to explain things like bigotry or sex, but I never thought that something as simple as Santa would take so much concentrated effort!  I definitely don't think I have things all figured out, but I just pray that God will give me the wisdom when I need it.