Comments on: Practical advice for families who don’t do Santa. http://bryanlopez.com/2009/12/11/practical-advice-for-families-who-dont-do-santa/ musings on theology, philosophy, adoption, music, and technology. Wed, 02 May 2012 20:37:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Pam Elmore http://bryanlopez.com/2009/12/11/practical-advice-for-families-who-dont-do-santa/#comment-2393 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:38:12 +0000 http://bryanlopez.com/?p=1338#comment-2393 Bryan, I’m glad you brought this up, and your tips are very practical.

I just blogged about this topic a couple of weeks ago. Like you, we didn’t do the Santa thing. Sometimes I wondered if we were doing the right thing.

In my now-adult son’s estimation, we did. Thought you might appreciate hearing that:

http://mosaicsynapse.blogspot.com/2009/11/he-knows-if-youve-been-bad-or-good.html

]]> By: Patsy George http://bryanlopez.com/2009/12/11/practical-advice-for-families-who-dont-do-santa/#comment-2375 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:57:05 +0000 http://bryanlopez.com/?p=1338#comment-2375 We don’t do Santa, but we do exchange presents, and a whole pile shows up on Christmas morning. When my oldest was 4, he was aware of this cartoon-type character named Santa Claus, but when an old man at the grocery store asked him if he was ready for Santa to come to our house, Jonathan turned to me completely perplexed. I smiled, and said something about being excited about Christmas. When we were in the car, I explained that St. Nicholas was a kind, generous man who lived a long time ago. I told my children he liked to give gifts to people, and often did so secretly, especially in the winter when he would leave coats, etc for poor children. I explained that St. Nicholas loved Jesus and wanted to share that love with others, and that it has become a game for “Santa” to give presents on Christmas. I did say that some parents take the game so far that their children truly believe, so be careful not to spoil it, but I told them our reasons for not doing so. It’s a conversation we continue to have – it’s always delicate explaining why some Christians do things different in a way that avoids pride and judgment.

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