Six Geese A-laying
I caught these guys exiting the scene of the crime. And all this time I thought my neighbor's lil' dog was leaving those surprises on my driveway.
The old fat guy and his fan mail are here
Emma has been bringing all sorts of cute Christmasy crafts and worksheets home from school. Here in the South we're a lot more open about religion and even though they still call it "winter break" there is no hiding of the word Christmas. But I have a confession: I have Santa issues. I know boycotting the guy would make me some evil, magic-killing, prude of a parent but I just don't like the concept. I mean I don't want to put up this big lie that distracts from the real focus. I don't like the idea of my kids focusing on things they want and forget about whose birthday we're celebrating and serving others. So I try to stress the religious part with my kids and just never confirm or deny the existence of Santa. Is this evil? Does anyone else feel this way? If Santa's a big deal at your house I won't think less of you. I do understand there is something magical in believing in him and the pure joy of kids finding their treasures Christmas morning. So go ahead, talk me in or out of this. Now after that rant, I have to admit this was cute:
Emma's Letter to Santa
She wants a bike and she's "going to trane it." And if that last caption has you thinking I'm pure evil, relax, she's getting her bike and we're not going to take credit for it (even though Jamie spent hours in the basement fixing it yesterday rolling his eyes while telling me, "you get what you pay for." Hey, it looked good and clean how was I to know the bearings were shot?). But we love that girl and she has been a good girl this year. "This has been my good year," she tells me, "I haven't even gone in time out for a long time."
Christmas Artwork
Emma is becoming quite the little arteest! I love her drawings! I'm not biased; I just have the most talented, clever, amazing, brilliant, and otherwise perfect children :o)
So who wouldn't spend hours fixing a bike for such a child and in exchange for such fine art?
4 comments:
You could always adopt the Swiss tradition of Sami Klaus day on December 6th and leave December 25th for the proper celebration of the birth of the Christ child. You might even get some milage out of the stories of Sami Klaus' dark little helper Schmutzli who beats the kids with sticks when they are bad! It worked for many generations of Swiss parents, so it should work for us.
Great art work and letter to Santa.
I'm with you, Rochelle, about the Big Jolly Fat Man. I don't actually tell the kids "I believe in Santa", because that wouldn't be true- seems like it would distract from the sincerity of telling them that "I believe in Christ", which is true. But... I don't tell them he doesn't exist either- Hollywood teaches kids that adults who do this are non-believing magic killers. Both truth (real faith) and imagination ("magic") are important, but I want the kids to be able to sort out which is which- and understand which is most important.
I am having the same problem as you! I found that this year I am really anti-santa. I mean, he takes all the credit for the good gifts, he distracts from the real reason for Christmas, you are lying to your kids, and you have to buy more presents than is really necessary. I just met someone whos family never did Santa and so she doesn't do it either. She tells her kids that Santa is a game that people play in their family and not to ruin the game for the other kids. I really like this approach and I am going to do it next year. I hate lying to my kids about Santa, and it really distracts from Jesus Christ's birth. I tried to emphasize this year that Christmas is really all about Jesus' birthday. And how if he hadn't been born then all would be lost. I guess I'm a scrooge.
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