Christmas in July: Deciding Whether or Not to Participate in the Santa Tradition

If you have little kids, then you are faced with the question of whether or not to take part in the Santa tradition (i.e., teaching kids that a jolly old man stops by to leave gifts for them to open on Christmas morning). This tradition can be fun and add excitement to the Christmas season, but it also has some drawbacks.

You may be wondering why I’m talking about this during the middle of the summer. Thinking about whether or not your family will “do Santa” is a great thing to consider during July because it helps you avoid making a spur-of-the-moment decision in December. This aligns with the purpose of the Christmas in July posts that I do each summer, which is planning early to avoid a chaotic Christmas.

I grew up with the Santa tradition. I loved it! More precisely, I really loved getting lots of presents from Santa. Other aspects of the tradition, such as making a wish list and setting out cookies for Santa, were also fun. My husband grew up in a household that participated somewhat in the Santa tradition, but he always knew that it was really his parents who gave the gifts. When we became parents, we didn’t automatically embrace the Santa tradition. We wanted to decide what was best for our family.

If you have young kids and you’re trying to decide what is best for your family, then you may benefit from giving thought to the pros and cons that we considered.

Pros and cons of the Santa tradition

Pros

• It is fun for kids
• It is fun for parents
• It adds to the excitement of the Christmas season
• It involves kids in a time-honored tradition
• It makes fantastic memories
• It provides an escape from the seriousness of everyday life
• Most young kids believe in Santa (source), so your kids will fit in and not spoil the fun for others
• Believing in Santa may help kids with problem solving as adults (source) because it helps kids exercise counterfactual reasoning skills (asking “what if?” or creating possible alternatives to counter the facts)
• It motivates kids to be “nice” instead of “naughty” so they will receive gifts from Santa

Cons

• It requires parents to lie to their kids
• It may detract from the real meaning of Christmas (i.e., a celebration of the birth of Jesus)
• Kids may feel devastated and/or distrustful when they learn Santa isn’t real
• It’s a lot of work for parents (keeping up the ruse, assembling gifts on Christmas Eve, etc.)
• Buying gifts and other Santa-related items (photos from visiting Santa at the mall, a special plate for Santa’s cookies, special rolls of wrapping paper, etc.) can be expensive
• It puts more emphasis on receiving gifts than on giving them
• Teaching kids that “nice” behavior earns them gifts and “naughty” behavior earns them coal is contrary to the approaches many parents use to motivate their kids

I don’t know what is best for your family, so it’s not my goal to encourage you to do anything in particular in regards to Santa. However, I hope these pros and cons will help you as you make a decision for your family.

Alternative approaches

There are more ways to approach the Santa tradition than just “doing Santa” or “not doing Santa.” Here are three hybrid approaches:

• Don’t confirm or deny. Many parents choose not to confirm or deny the existence of Santa. They allow their kids to believe whatever they choose. If the kids believe he exists, then the parents make sure there are gifts from him beneath the tree on Christmas. When the kids ask questions about Santa, the parents answer these by saying, “What do you think?” or something similar. Kids eventually stop believing in Santa once they deduce that his existence is implausible.
• Enjoy Santa as a fictional character. Some families introduce Santa as a fictional character. The parents explain that Santa is not real, but they role play his existence just as they would role play other stories (such as fairy tales or stories about superheroes). This allows children to do things like visit Santa at the mall, leave out cookies, read stories about Santa, etc., but they don’t have to face the disappointment of learning he isn’t real. They know this all along, but they still get to take part in Santa-related traditions.
• Celebrate Saint Nicholas. Today’s Santa Claus grew out of traditions surrounding the real Saint Nicholas, an early Christian bishop of the city of Myra. We know relatively little about the real Saint Nicholas, but his generosity is legendary. One of his most famous acts was providing dowries for three impoverished girls who otherwise would have been forced into lives of prostitution. He provided this money by throwing bags of gold coins into their house under the cover of night (hence the tradition of Santa bringing gifts at night). Many families talk about the real Saint Nicholas and commemorate his faith, compassion, and generosity. They do this on or around Saint Nicholas Day (December 6th) by reading books about him, attending church services, having special meals, exchanging gifts, etc.

What we’ve chosen to do

My husband and I decided that we didn’t want to teach our kids that Santa was real. There were two reasons for this. First, we didn’t want Santa to detract from the real meaning of Christmas. Some families may be able to “do Santa” and still focus on Christ’s birth, but we weren’t certain we would be able to. Second, we didn’t feel comfortable lying to our kids.

I was a little concerned that Christmas might not be a wonder-filled experience without Santa, but it is! We do Jesse Tree readings for Advent. My kids love it! They get excited to put an ornament on the tree every night. We also bake cookies, do crafts, decorate, listen to carols, exchange gifts, etc. There are so many things that make the season special.

Of course, my kids know who Santa is. I think it’d be impossible to grow up in American today and not know! We read books about Saint Nicholas and celebrate his example of generosity by opening a gift on Saint Nicholas Day. We also talk about how Saint Nicholas was the inspiration for Santa. We enjoy Santa as a fictional character (we read stories about him, enjoy how he is depicted in décor, imagine what it would be like to fly around the world in one night, etc.). However, my kids don’t believe he is real, nor do they receive presents from him.

Final thoughts

Hopefully all of the things presented here will help you as you consider what is best for your family. If you start thinking about it now, perhaps you will reach a decision before the Christmas season!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on all of this. Does your family take part in the Santa tradition? Why or why not?

Shared at the following:

Encouraging Hearts and Home and Over the Moon.