To Santa or not to Santa, that is the question.. or at least is was for me. For years we did the whole Santa thing, we bought thousands of dollars worth of toys and stocking stuffers and even had a savings account set up just for Christmas. A whole account set aside for a day of toys and wrappings and decorations that would be thrown out in moments or at the very longest a year. We had a long list given to us by our children of what they wanted for Christmas, a list we encouraged non the less! After Christmases, everyone even strangers, would ask “what’d Santa get you?” Or “What did you get for Christmas?”. It seemed as though everything around that time of the year was set up to getting, getting, getting and I was just an encourager of this behavior.
After years of this routine it all came to halt when I went through a divorce in 2005. I just couldn’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars ( much less thousands) on toys and needless thing. I had to make each penny count. Things like fruit and nuts and socks in the stockings replaced little plastic toys and the latest gizmo or gadget. I remember that first Christmas after the divorce so well. I began to hate Santa. I began to hate Christmas. It only reminded me of a time that I could no longer mentally or financially afford. It reminded me of what a disappointment the kids would feel at Christmas with only the essentials they needed under the tree., And Santa, where was he with all his special gifts that year? That year when the kids needed him most! What a fraud! But really it was me that was the fraud. I had done this to my kids. I had done this to Christmas. In all my years of trying so hard to make Christmas a magical time, I had destroyed it.
Well, that Christmas came and while it was all I could do to drag myself out of bed that morning, the kids were filled with excitement. An excitement that I thought would go away as they unwrapped the few gifts I managed to put together. I couldn’t really see it on that day, but to the kids, it was still a very magical day.
That Christmas was a pivotal moment for me. I began to change my way of thinking about Santa, Christmas and “things”. Soon after that I started my journey to simplify mine and my family’s life. I began to clean up my lifestyle. That meant Santa and the materialistic, money marketing season that Christmas had become for me would have to go.
Since then I have remarried and had another child. It was easy to start the little one out with our new way of life. Thankfully the older kids were old enough to understand. That first year of our new way of doing things, the kids truely enjoyed replacing opening tons of gifts on Christmas Day with handing out socks, their homemade scarves and hats to the homeless. We have all benefited and flourished in our new simplistic lifestyle. There is no pressure of the holiday season, no worries of filling up a stocking, no unmet expectations and no empty bank accounts. As for me, I no longer hate Santa but he is a reminder of how quickly we can make a season or holiday into something completely irrelevant. Our Christmases are about family and Jesus instead of gifts and Santa. We have new traditions that focus on giving and appreciation. We make gifts or do acts of service for each other instead of buying things. On Christmas Day we light candles to remind us we are the light in a dark world. Then we spend the day with family and we watch a family movie followed by handing out warm clothing to the homeless. We make it a point to check on neighbors and focus on others during the holiday season.
So for the all asking question, to Santa or not to Santa? Well, for us it was a matter of who we had let Santa become in our home. Santa needed to be less in our home. Santa needed to be exposed for who he really is, a fictitious character that had somehow crossed the barriers from imagination into reality. In our home, Santa is simply a made up character about a fat jolly man doing good deeds with his flying reindeer. So, while some people may say that by not doing the whole Santa thing we’ve somehow stolen some magic from our kids, I would say it’s quite the contrary. We have created a magic that is real and fun and can’t be taken from them or us due to age or unforeseeable financial woes.
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