"Is Santa real?"

This has been quite a summer! Little did I know that the kids being home from a camp program would result in so much change.

I knew this question would come one day "is Santa real?" and I have to admit I've been thinking about the whole Santa scenario since last year. There has been some guilt on my part of lying to the kids about a fictional jolly fat man in a red suit. For the last two years, the kids have been advised that Santa only brings them one gift, the rest are from Dave & me, family and friends. Yes, we do put out reindeer food, track Santa on Norad and leave out milk (eggnog) and cookies.  

Last year as the kids were a little older I was wondering if we should tell them the truth about Santa but decided not to broach it at the time.

Last week Matt made the decision to accept Jesus into his heart and Emily informed me that she had done so last year.  Matt has been asking a lot of questions on what being a Christian is and in our explanations we always talk about doing right, doing what God wants us to do and be. As a matter of fact, yesterday he had it set in his mind that we should live on a zoo.  When Emily said she did want to live on a zoo he responded, "If God wants us to live on a zoo, we have to live on a zoo, its what He wants." 

So today when the question came.....the thing that popped in my head, or should I say was spoken was "truth".  I asked them both if they wanted me to tell them the truth. They said yes and I asked again if they wanted the truth.  They insisted they wanted the truth.  

I told them about Saint Nicholas and how he cared and gave to the children (they told me they knew that from Veggie Tales).  I then told them that the Santa at the North Pole wasn't real - he is just a story.  

Immediately, Emily started the questions: "I thought you said he gives us one present, whose it from?"  "Who wrote the from Santa on the presents?" "Who ate the cookies and drank the eggnog?" I admitted to all of them "daddy and me". She seemed most appalled that we ate the cookies and drank the eggnog.  

I asked them if they were okay with knowing the truth and they said "sure".  Matt has decided though that we can still put out a plate of cookies for us all to eat.  

It was the recent talks of spiritual things that made me realize that it was time to be honest with the kids.  How can I teach them to trust in a God who loves them so much, believe in a Savior who died and rose again....all things they've never seen and yet in the season where the focus is on our Savior's birth, I'm telling them to believe in this unseen Santa. How can I lie to them and expect them to be honest with me? This whole Christian parent thing has taken a new turn for me along these last few months.  My gift of them is an honor and I need to gift them with the knowledge of an amazing God and none of that can be done in the midst of a lie.  

Christmas is definitely going to be different this year but better because our focus will be solely on the real reason of Christmas, the blessing we received and the blessing we can bestow upon others through the spirit of giving.