Once again, Christmas looms, a very big deal in our house as DH is a "sort of" Catholic (meaning, he goes to mass at funerals and weddings), and I used to be Catholic, and have a HUGE Irish Catholic family.
So, we celebrate Christmas, but I don't talk about Santa at all, and DH does. I don't because I think it is not a great idea to indulge the youngest dd in a story that isn't true. DH does talk about Santa, and strangely, dd2 does not come to me for reality testing (which is okay with me, I guess).
Since Montessori really embraces the real world, it luckily does not come up in dd2's Montessori class (and dd1 went to a Catholic Montessori, so Santa was never a class area of discussion, but there were lots of really pretty songs about Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus at "Christmas Family Sharing Time", as well as some very pretty songs from other religious backgrounds as many children at that school were from other religions/faiths), but I am still a little uneasy about the whole thing.
A dad who is on the board of dd2's Montessori with me and I had a really interesting discussion after our last meeting; he is an agnostic but attends a Unitarian church, his wife is deeply Catholic, and he always tells his sons the truth about his faith or lack of, yet still indulges in the Santa Story, while I do neither, except tell dds that I really don't know or understand the whole religion thing, but that there probably is a creator who is so complex I can't even begin to understand, and that in my way of thinking, Jesus was a representative of that creator to guide people in a better direction (same as the buddha, and all the prophets, and Mohammed, etc).
I guess I am just looking for your own take on this, to me, very complicated question......
PS I also do not talk at all about the tooth fairy, or the Easter bunnie, or anything like that, but DH does and interestingly so far neither daughter has come to me with questions (DD1 outgrew such beliefs around age 7).
And if you think I should relax and not worry about such a trivial thing, let me know, that will be taken under consideration too!
So, we celebrate Christmas, but I don't talk about Santa at all, and DH does. I don't because I think it is not a great idea to indulge the youngest dd in a story that isn't true. DH does talk about Santa, and strangely, dd2 does not come to me for reality testing (which is okay with me, I guess).
Since Montessori really embraces the real world, it luckily does not come up in dd2's Montessori class (and dd1 went to a Catholic Montessori, so Santa was never a class area of discussion, but there were lots of really pretty songs about Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus at "Christmas Family Sharing Time", as well as some very pretty songs from other religious backgrounds as many children at that school were from other religions/faiths), but I am still a little uneasy about the whole thing.
A dad who is on the board of dd2's Montessori with me and I had a really interesting discussion after our last meeting; he is an agnostic but attends a Unitarian church, his wife is deeply Catholic, and he always tells his sons the truth about his faith or lack of, yet still indulges in the Santa Story, while I do neither, except tell dds that I really don't know or understand the whole religion thing, but that there probably is a creator who is so complex I can't even begin to understand, and that in my way of thinking, Jesus was a representative of that creator to guide people in a better direction (same as the buddha, and all the prophets, and Mohammed, etc).
I guess I am just looking for your own take on this, to me, very complicated question......
PS I also do not talk at all about the tooth fairy, or the Easter bunnie, or anything like that, but DH does and interestingly so far neither daughter has come to me with questions (DD1 outgrew such beliefs around age 7).
And if you think I should relax and not worry about such a trivial thing, let me know, that will be taken under consideration too!