We don’t “do Santa Claus” in the Seibel House. Honestly… We love St. Nicholas way too much to fake it. Let me tell you why.
It seems to start around mid-October, just when the Pumpkin Spice Lattes are wearing off and y’all want a peppermint mocha in hand, while you put your Christmas Tree up before All Saints Day.
I’m not going to lie, it is fun to watch from afar. Y’all get for-serious about your Santa!!! My sister is so obsessed, she starts weekly memes, mostly themed from the movie Elf, in July. I hate that move. I still absolutely adore her enthusiasm and cuteness about it, for her family.
It’s just not something I want to do.
I know, I know… you may really love your Santa routine. I don’t think you’re deeply scarring the children by it. I do not preach that Santa Syndrome is inherently evil, pagan or sinful. I just don’t want to do it. We have solid reasons for keeping Red-Suit out of our Christmas, and I’d like to share them with you.
We, The Seibels, are odd and have no frame of reference.
We know that our family is not the norm. Both my husband and I grew up without “Doing Santa,” and literally have no experience, and neither of us feels like we are missing anything. This Santa thing is a huge time investment, from what I can see, and there’s got to be a learning curve that… I don’t want to learn. I know people who get on their rooftops to make noise, keeping their kids believing for one more season before it’s all ruined!
That is not for me. I like that neither Travis or I have memories of believing in Santa or of “losing faith” in him. The only impact I remember was the somewhat burdensome weight of guarding the truth when friends would talk about the big guy as a real being. I struggled with knowing that adults lied to children. I kinda still do.
I very much like being honest with my kids about Santa.
My family loves picking things apart with reason and logic, analyzing the meaning of life and God’s design for humanity. We are constantly hashing out one or more mysteries that surround us, and how they deepen our faith. I have to say, I just can’t imagine missing out on all that we have learned and the memories of honoring Saint Nicholas as who he really was and contemplating his life of benevolence through his real story. It’s such a beautiful tradition
We have enough hanging over our heads as parents that we have to “break” to our kids someday.
Every year I see adults on social media or in conversation mention how devastated they, the parent, are that their child is questioning or doesn’t believe anymore. We have conversations about how and when to tell your kid about Santa. I honestly think it makes the top three difficult parenting conversations, after talking about death and the actual Talk. Seems like a lot of energy and even identity goes into this whole Santa gig and doing it “right.” Listen, this world is full of things that we will have to break to our kids and help them grapple with. Eye openers and shocking revelations are in no shortage and we will be walking through a ton of them with our children as it is. Call me lazy, but I’m opting out of this one.
If he’s a fake then what about, Ahem?
I once told a pastor friend, “The second they realize that we lied about Red-Suit -Dude for years, the next question in their minds will be “What about Jesus?”. It’s a completely logical parallel. Who else sees you when you are asleep or awake? Knows your heart with all it’s bad and good…. urges you to be good for the sake of GOODNESS… Who else?
Did you know Saint Nicholas actually already has his own day?!?!?
He does, and that means we get to celebrate twice!! I love this part. Sure, we Catholics may wait until the dead end of the shopping season to get our decor up, but we are par-tay-ing on December 6th to honor Saint Nicholas and you should seriously join us if you like him that much! We can have our Saint Nicholas Feast and Christmas, too!
We love St. Nick and honor his l
Ultimately, we don’t “do Santa” out of complete and total respect and love for St. Nick, himself. Saint Nicholas would not want to be Santa. He was humble and discreet in his extravagant giving. He hid it for Christ to get the glory, not to be fake or lie. He was silent so that there was nowhere else for the praise to go
St. Nicholas IS real.
Wikipedia even says so. He was amazing,
Saint Nicholas was generous and a holy example of sacrifice for others. I honestly believe that all of this commercialized junk and distraction in his name breaks his merry, jolly heart. We can change that by celebrating him appropriately and fully.
Where is Saint Nicholas today?
We believe he’s in the best place EVER! He is well. He’s hanging with the King, the one that he lived for. He’s not dead. We absolutely believe that to be true. If you are a believer in Christ, this is what we do. How
Where can YOU learn about this awesome man?
If you want to learn more about the history and traditions, The Saint Nicholas Center is fantastic and has so much to offer. It has been a favorite for us, and I find something new to consider, each time I check out their website.
Now, I’m going to go get ready!!!!!! So much to do before his big day!! Here comes St. Nick!!
What are your thoughts?
Since the season is in full swing, and moms seem ready to swing at each other over this, what are your thoughts?
How do you feel about Saint Nicholas vs. Santa Claus?
Join me on my FACEBOOK PAGE for a discussion about it!
Book Suggestions:
To Watch:
NEXT UP, I’m going to share our Seibel family Saint Nicholas Day traditions.
Updated and re-published from Dec 2013.
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So… if you say parents are lying about Santa putting gifts under their tree, aren’t you (and all of us who celebrate St. Nicholas day, myself included) lying to your children about who puts gifts in their shoes? Just a thought.
So… if you say parents are lying about Santa putting gifts under their tree, aren’t you (and all of us who celebrate St. Nicholas day, myself included) lying to your children about who puts gifts in their shoes? Just a thought.
Nope. That’s a good question. I assumed that it was clear that they know that it’s us and that we do it in honor of St. Nicholas. They know he doesn’t do it but that we get to play it!!!
Also, for new readers my comments about lying/Santa will sound harsh. Being truthful to our children about EVERYTHING is something that I touch on often. In no way am I judging anyone else for their choice by calling it a lie. It’s our own standard that I know is extreme on not lying to our kids about anything. I’ve blogged about that often and this falls a bit into that area for me. I just can’t do it.
Nope. That’s a good question. I assumed that it was clear that they know that it’s us and that we do it in honor of St. Nicholas. They know he doesn’t do it but that we get to play it!!!
Also, for new readers my comments about lying/Santa will sound harsh. Being truthful to our children about EVERYTHING is something that I touch on often. In no way am I judging anyone else for their choice by calling it a lie. It’s our own standard that I know is extreme on not lying to our kids about anything. I’ve blogged about that often and this falls a bit into that area for me. I just can’t do it.
While I don’t celebrate St Nicholas Day myself, I can definitely relate to your thoughts on this! Bryan and I both grew up “with Santa” but just didn’t feel comfortable making that a tradition in our own home. And the “next step” question of Jesus is definitely part of that, as is the unease with the idea of presenting something as truth that I know to be otherwise. But, like you, we also don’t vilify others who do follow that tradition. Frankly, I don’t think either of our families even realize that we don’t “do Santa.” We just don’t make an issue of it.
While I don’t celebrate St Nicholas Day myself, I can definitely relate to your thoughts on this! Bryan and I both grew up “with Santa” but just didn’t feel comfortable making that a tradition in our own home. And the “next step” question of Jesus is definitely part of that, as is the unease with the idea of presenting something as truth that I know to be otherwise. But, like you, we also don’t vilify others who do follow that tradition. Frankly, I don’t think either of our families even realize that we don’t “do Santa.” We just don’t make an issue of it.
Great post. I grew up in a house where we didn’t do Santa. It was kinda vilified. My husband grew up in a house where they did but it wasn’t a big deal. We are trying to allow our kids to pretend Santa but teach them that it is just that, pretend. We want them to know about the true “santa” and where the idea came from. Since it all stems from Christ, it is easy to enjoy the fun of it while remembering why there is an imaginary Santa in the first place. Kinda like the batman and spiderman they like to pretend they are. 🙂 Totally agree though that lying to kids is not a good idea even in the name of magic. Lying is lying. Period. Thanks for writing this!
Great post. I grew up in a house where we didn’t do Santa. It was kinda vilified. My husband grew up in a house where they did but it wasn’t a big deal. We are trying to allow our kids to pretend Santa but teach them that it is just that, pretend. We want them to know about the true “santa” and where the idea came from. Since it all stems from Christ, it is easy to enjoy the fun of it while remembering why there is an imaginary Santa in the first place. Kinda like the batman and spiderman they like to pretend they are. 🙂 Totally agree though that lying to kids is not a good idea even in the name of magic. Lying is lying. Period. Thanks for writing this!
If St. Nicolas did it for the glory of Christ, then why are you doing it to honor St. Nicholas and not for the glory of Christ? This is one thing that I don’t understand. I agree with the not doing Santa as an honesty thing, I even get giving gifts in the tradition of how St. Nick actually did it, and teaching about who the real St. Nick was. I just don’t get why you are making a big deal out of honouring him and not making a big deal about honouring Jesus. Or maybe you are and I’m just getting the wrong message from the blog post…
If St. Nicolas did it for the glory of Christ, then why are you doing it to honor St. Nicholas and not for the glory of Christ? This is one thing that I don’t understand. I agree with the not doing Santa as an honesty thing, I even get giving gifts in the tradition of how St. Nick actually did it, and teaching about who the real St. Nick was. I just don’t get why you are making a big deal out of honouring him and not making a big deal about honouring Jesus. Or maybe you are and I’m just getting the wrong message from the blog post…
Good post! I really clearly remember when I was a little girl, my mom told me that Santa was pretend because she wanted me to know that “mommy will never lie to you.” I’ve remembered that exact quote for years! We are going to tell our kids that Santa is pretend and tell them the story if Saint Nick. Love putting out if the shoes! Thanks for sharing.
Good post! I really clearly remember when I was a little girl, my mom told me that Santa was pretend because she wanted me to know that “mommy will never lie to you.” I’ve remembered that exact quote for years! We are going to tell our kids that Santa is pretend and tell them the story if Saint Nick. Love putting out if the shoes! Thanks for sharing.
I love this question. I think that for my post I was intentionally “cheeesing him up” a bit to show the ability to have wonder and mystery in the process, without harming the truth. I’m going to answer your question when I get a minute. I’m sorry that it was overlooked in the busyness this week!
I love this question. I think that for my post I was intentionally “cheeesing him up” a bit to show the ability to have wonder and mystery in the process, without harming the truth. I’m going to answer your question when I get a minute. I’m sorry that it was overlooked in the busyness this week!