Touchy Topic Tuesday: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

PRETTY PLEASE!!!! Join me on Mondays for my new meme- Mommier-Than-Thou Monday, and let us know why you're a better mommy than anyone else out there!!!

Also, Merry Christmas! Please click the link above to read about my sweet Scarlet, her accident, her successful recovery and how YOU can help us help the children of Primary Children's Hospital by purchasing a beautiful, unique Spoon For Scarlet. They make lovely ornaments for your tree, eye catching window decorations, and perfect gifts both for the holidays and beyond.

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Touchy Topic Tuesday:

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"

Tonight, I am snuggled under a blanket, and sipping a cup of pumpkin spice cocoa. Molly, my black lab, is stretched out on the floor beneath me, and the room is illuminated by only the screen of my netbook, and the pinpoint lights of the Christmas tree we put up and decorated yesterday.

Under the tree, my most favorite decoration, The Kneeling Santa, rests below sloping boughs, right next to the Fisher Price Nativity my kids just love to play with.

There aren't any gifts yet, but honestly, the thought of Santa's yearly arrival makes me giddy all the way to my toes.

Yes, the rule in my house does happen to be "If you don't believe, you don't receive."

I believe in Santa. And, naturally, so do my kids. And, as it goes, I will defend their innocence on the matter as though it were a matter of life and death. After discovering that the mystery of Santa Claus was not what I had always dreamed it to be, the season just wasn't the same to me anymore. At least not until I had my own children. Now, the magic of the holiday is tenfold.

Now, it seems to have recently come to my attention that Santa Claus is a touchy subject. I have heard over and over the phrase "You can't spell Santa without Satan." and passionate mothers accuse that an encouragement of belief in something like this is an insult to their child's intelligence, and even more claim that they will never stoop to such an atrocity as to lie to their child. Then of course, there are the holier-than-thou mothers who insist that you can't do Christmas correctly while using Santa because it takes the focus off of Jesus Christ, which is the true meaning of Christmas. (And for the record, I would love to extend an invitation to all of THOSE mamas to join my Monday meme- see above.)

My rebuttals?

"You can't spell Santa without Satan"

Well, you can't spell God without dog either, but that doesn't make him any less divine, does it?

"It's an insult to my child's intelligence"

Well, one of the most brilliant minds that ever lived is quoted to say "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination." (Albert Einstein)- it sure is a sad day when a young child is expected to be too mature to pretend or too smart to hope for something magical.

"I will never lie to my child"

Well, maybe this is just me, but I doubt it because if it really were JUST me, Santa would have died off generations ago, but when i finally approached my mother with serious intent to find out the truth about Santa Claus, and she told me, very honestly, that no, Santa wasn't real, but that it was such a lovely tradition, to let children believe that there was such a man, so giving, so loving that he spends his entire, immortal existence serving others, and what an example that should be to me- that I should give generously too- well, I never ever once felt deceived or lied to. A bit let down, perhaps, that the legend was not true, but I did not trust my mother less. I simply began to look forward to doing it all myself some day.

"Remember the reason for the season. It's about Christ, not Santa, and you simply cannot have both."

This is simply not true. As I said, beneath my beautiful Christmas tree, devoid of any presents as of yet, my dearest decoration stands, the Kneeling Santa. Some find this cheesy, or cliche. I find it positively humbling. WE have always taught OUR children that Santa brings presents to children as a symbol, because Jesus was God's greatest gift to us, and we receive gifts to remind us of that. There are symbols from everything- from the striped candy cane (the shepherds who saw the angels who brought wonderful news), to the star on top of the tree (the star over the stable). We talk almost daily about Jesus Christ, and about his birthday. Like the wise men, bringing gifts to baby Jesus, Santa brings presents to children. Like the wise men, MY children, instead of receiving gifts from their mom and dad, choose a child from the angel tree, and we put much thought into the gifts we will purchase for a child who has very little. It is something they look forward to with all their hearts.

There ARE two aspects of Christmas. Jesus Christ- the reason for the season, and Santa, who is only a deterrent to the religious aspect if you MAKE (not 'let', 'make') him be so. It is so very easy to explain to a child, in simple, understandable terms, the differences.

To be honest, I just don't really care if people choose to believe in Santa, or if they promote it with their children, or if they seriously feel like Santa is such a huge lie that it will destroy their children's psyche that they'd rather just never even introduce the magical, hopeful feeling many of us remember in the first place.

What I DO care about is that those parents keep their mouths shut about it and teach their children to do the same. When my child talks about a gift they were given, and an adult turns to me "Where did you get that?" and my child answers "Santa brought it!", it is not, in any way, acceptable to respond without hesitation "No, seriously, where did you get it?" (Yes, this comes from personal experience.)

On Christmas morning, it is REQUIRED that, if you are spending the morning with us, that you guard your comments with strict precision. I do not want to have to give you dirty looks, or remind you several times that SANTA brought these gifts, I did not purchase them myself. But you'd better believe that you WILL receive a tongue lashing if you are to ruin this day for my children.

If your child knows all the dirty laundry about Santa, please, please, teach them that it's not okay to go blabbing it to their school friends. My oldest is 5. I don't expect her to believe forever, but 5 years old is still a very tender young age in my eyes, and if you choose not to employ Santa in your holiday, that's fine with me. But don't you dare let your child take it away from mine.

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Now, give us your opinions, friends! Do you believe if Santa? Do your children? How do YOU separate Santa from Christ? If you don't employ this tradition, why not, and what ARE your traditions?