Naughty Santa Clause, Or is he Nice?

Who is Santa Clause in your life?

Did you ever notice that when the subject of Santa comes up there are as many opinions and conceptions as there are people with those opinions?

When you think of Santa Clause, what comes to mind?

Do you perceive Santa as lying to your kids when you tell them Santa’s coming?

Do you think he takes away from the real meaning of the holidays?

I once had a relative tell me that….

Yikes, a little harsh perhaps, but just another opinion in the sea of thought about Santa Clause!

Becoming very active in the social networking sites, and especially during this time of year, I’ve read many different opinions and theories around who and what Santa really is, and how families celebrate either with him or without him.

I’ve seen everything from one person who topped her budget this year at $5,000.00 to another who doesn’t put any presents under the tree, they just give to others and the children are OK with it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to judge about the right or wrong way to spend your holidays with your families, but more to just make an observation that there really is no right or wrong way, only the way that makes you happy.

There are many reason that some folks think teaching children about Santa Clause is not good, such as:

Growing up in my house, Santa was always a part of Christmas. My mom died when I was 37 years old. She died in January, so we had just come out of her very last Christmas we would ever spend with her.

My mom loved Christmas. She was also a very faithful Christian. We all knew the real meaning of Christmas, just as my kids do.

However, up to that very last year, and remember, I was 37 years old, my presents still said To Debbie From Santa….. Well, OK, I really never had one of the little red cars under the tree…. But you can bet it’s on my dream board =)

Christmas Eve would not be the same for me without the whole family going to church, and the added bonus on that particular night is that for the most part, nobody argues or complains. It’s just a great family night of singing Christmas carols and listening to an amazing message that our paster very skillfully delivers.

We take ornaments off the tree at church and buy gifts for families who are not so fortunate.

However, there is still another tradition in my house during the holidays. This is one that was passed down from my mom and I hope will be passed down to my grandbabies when I am fortunate enough to have them.

In my house we NEVER say we don’t believe in Santa! If you don’t believe in Santa you don’t get gifts!

In my house Santa is not a person, he’s so much more.

Santa is:

The spirit of giving

The Spirit of Family

The gift of gratitude

The gift of camaraderie

Santa is so much more to us than a fat man in a red suit with a big white beard. He’s so much more than a myth that takes away the spirit of Christmas and promotes greed and makes people forgot the real meaning of Christmas.

Santa to my family is the the glue that brings us all together.

He’s the man who makes us all go to bed on Christmas Eve [because he won't come if you're still up], and he’s the man who makes us all wake up early on Christmas morning [because he's been here],

He’s who we put milk and cookies out for before we go to bed and even carrots for the reindeer. (And wow, it’s always gone in the morning =)

It’s not about the gifts, or how much money we spend.

It’s not about commercializing Christmas or demoralizing the holiday.

It’s about the family getting together on Christmas morning and opening up the gifts that we selected and hand picked for each other.

We laugh, we sometimes cry, but we always have fun. Sometimes it’s the best day of the year. It’s what memories are made of.

With all of that said I must tell you that my kids are 19, 21 and 23 (very soon to be 20, 22 and 24).

Do you think they still, or ever for that matter, believed that there was a fat man in the North Pole wearing a red suit who spent 364 days making presents with the Elves and on the 365th day tethered up the reindeer and rode around the world to deliver toys to every boy and girl out there.

I think not, yet, if and when any of them read this post they will probably say “Mom, you mean there is no Santa??”

Happy Holidays Everyone!!! I hope all your Holiday dream come true, and I hope Santa (whatever Santa means to you ) is good to you !!