santa thread spin off

[umami_mommy]

somewhat related to the whole santa/lying thing is my issue with explaining to my 3 yr old that santa doesn't visit us... we are pagan and i was raised jewish and my partner was raised atheist, and so it's just something we don't do. period. to me christmas is christian, and santa was invented by the coke-a-cola company. we do observe the winter solstice and exchange simple handmade gifts, but nothing like what my son sees on TV, books or in nursery school.

so everywhere my son looks right now is santa santa santa.... how do i tell him santa doesn't come here without him feeling bad?

there just wasn't this kind of overt saturation of santa images when i was little (1960s) and so i only remember feeling sad and left out in school... not before then.

[4evermom]

I would never phrase it that santa doesn't come here because that would imply he was real and does go other places. I get really annoyed when strangers ask ds if he is ready for santa and ask him if he has been good. I tell him santa is pretend and because he is a practical, scientific type of kid who has little contact with groups of kids it hasn't been a problem for us.

[boongirl]

This must be a hard time of year for you.

Why can't you tell him that some people believe santa is real and you do not. Explain why you do not believe in it. There are crosses all around town on churches and in xmas decorations. Angels also. These are also things you might explain to him as things you do not believe in but others do. Would that not foster respect for others?

[UnschoolnMa]

I would explain that Santa is a character that people like to pretend about during winter time. Maybe? That the story started with a real man who lived a very very long time ago, and that he would bring presents to children. The story changed a lot over the years and now he is more like a fairy tale. You might also look for stories that discuss Father Winter. Perhaps that might be a better fit for your family and it has the added bonus of relating directly to the season.

[LadyMarmalade]

Pagan friends of ours tell their kids that Christmas is a celebration for Christians, who are remembering the birthday of Jesus. They talk about the historical side of it (ie they believe Jesus was born, but not that he was God, so they talk about Middle Eastern history of that time ... they point out to their kids that if Jesus was born while shepherds were outside looking after sheep it couldn't have been the middle of winter, that type of thing - they also talk about astronomy history and the star that the wise men followed etc). But they also tell their kids why they don't have Santa (who wasn't created by coca cola, btw - it was discussed in another thread so I won't rehash it). They explain that a Catholic priest a few hundred years (Nicholas) wanted to share the message of Jesus and how he became a Saint, and how different languages change Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus ... that's who Santa is ... but since they don't believe in the message of Jesus they don't need Santa. Then they talk about how coca cola cashed in on Santa for the sake of greed. They also talk about the 18th century artist (can't remember his name) who coca cola copied and that leads to discussions about art and how it changes through history.

[johub]

We are Pagans who celebrate a secular christmas/ pagan Yule celebration.
In our lives Christmas is just as Pagan as it is Christian anyway. Take out the Jesus bit and it is Saturnalia, or Yule or Winter Solstice anyway.
We still use the term "Christmas" as a cultural label for the holiday.
Even the Christians know that Jesus wasnt really born at Midwinter anyway. . . The whole Christian aspect of Christmas is made up and added after the fact. (Kinda like Santa LOL)
People have been decorating with evergreens and having Midwinter feasts and hanging mistletoe for a long time before the holiday was ever associated with the birth of Jesus.
So we still do Christmas, and with gusto!!
I am not saying that you should of course, just sharing what another pagan family does.
Joline

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by johub

Even the Christians know that Jesus wasnt really born at Midwinter anyway. . . The whole Christian aspect of Christmas is made up and added after the fact. (Kinda like Santa LOL)

You'd be amazed. My ILs are Christians who get hysterical when you try to point out to them that Jesus was born in April and the Christmas trees didn't originate in Germany.

At any rate: I am Jewish and married to a Christian man. Luckily, Mike grew up Santa-free. His parents were not keen on Santa at all, and thought that it would take away from the true spirit of Christmas to teach their kids about Santa, so he and his sister grew up knowing that one of their uncles would dress up as Santa each year. They even had a Christmas without a tree one year, just to make the point to their children that the holiday was not a commercial enterprise but a celebration of an event in their religion. Personally, I think that Christianity is very silly but I can appreciate that Mike's parents put a fair amount of effort into it.

Last week, coming out of Wal-Mart, someone asked my son if he was "being good for Santa." BeanBean had no idea what he was talking about; he's never heard the story about Santa bringing kids presents, he only knows him as "that guy in the red costume." I said, "We're Jewish," and the guy said, "Aw," like my kids were being abused and neglected because they don't celebrate Christmas.