I have a 4 year old.
She know’s that parents are the sneaky culprits behind the presents “miraculously” appearing under the tree on Christmas morning.
And guess what???
She’s okay with it!
Oh, we don’t have an Elf on the Shelf either… {Gasp!}
Here’s why… {we’re about to get a little personal}
We strive, in our house, to be examples of hard work.
Not that we work hard so we can get things… but that hard work is important.
My husband and I work hard to provide for our family.
It’s not easy.
We work EXTRA hard to be able to give gifts at birthdays and holidays.
It’s really, really not easy.
We work hard, because we LOVE our family and we love to see the joy in their faces when they receive gifts.
If everything that appears under the tree is from a mysterious fat man that came down the… but wait… we don’t have a chimney…
Then what in the world did mom and dad give me?!
SOCKS and Chonies?! Booooooorrrriiiinnnnggg… Santa OBVIOUSLY loves me more than my folks!
Now let me clarify something.
We LOVE the magic of the holidays.
We watch all the Santa movies, we sing all the goofy songs, it’s truly magical!
And we also explain to our children that we celebrate Christmas because of our faith
and the spirit of giving gifts is an added bonus,
NOT the focus.
A few days ago we took the girls to the mall and E saw Santa so she wanted to go talk to him.
We stood in line and FINALLY it was her turn to see him.
She climbed up into his chair and he said those famous words… “Eden, have you been a good girl this year?”
**silence**
**blank stares**
“Uhmm…??? I think so??”
Then he told her to make sure to clean her room for when he comes to visit and that was that.
After her little chat with Santa my cheerful, bouncy girl was a sluggy, slumpy, ball of sadness.
I asked why she was feeling so sad.
“I’m not good, Mom! I disobey a lot, and I don’t clean up my messes, and I get mad, and…”
She went on and on.
Guilt Ridden!
My FOUR YEAR old was completely guilt ridden because of a fictional guy in a red suit.
We were thankful for the exchange though because we were able to sit down and really talk about
the meaning of Christmas. We don’t have to be good for God to love us.
In fact, we aren’t able to be good without God’s love in our life.
We don’t want our children to be guilted into “goodness” so that they can get goodies for Christmas.
We don’t want our children to feel like they have to be “good enough” to get the “good gifts.”
We want them to know that bad days, bad moods, and sticky messes are NORMAL.
And no matter how good or bad they are, they are loved. Just. The Same.
So yes, my four year old knows I’m Santa. She still believes in the magic of Christmas-y awesomeness,
but she also believes in the deep deep truth that Christmas brings us:
Love and Grace are the GREATEST gifts we can give or receive.
Oh and about the Elf… It just really creeps me out. I just can’t.
