Christmas Traditions

Now that the holidays are approaching we begin pulling out Christmas decorations … Santa Claus … reindeers … Religious holidays … Hanukkah … Kwanzaa … “Jesus’s birthday”. All of those things are great BUT there are things that we’ve been taught growing up that aren’t true! With that being said, ask yourself this … what traditions are you considering instilling in your children? This is a topic that I seem to struggle with now that I am a mother!

Beforehand I never would’ve thought about these things in such great detail. Although it may seem funny for me to dwell on it, it’s actually a pretty serious topic? My husband and I discuss things like this all of the time. I’m sure some won’t agree with me and that’s fine! At the end of the day everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Santa Claus

I grew up thinking Santa Claus was real. Like most children, I wrote this ridiculously long list of things that I wanted, sat cookies & milk next to the tree and waited patiently for “Santa” to arrive. I fell asleep waiting for this guy to show up and he always came after I had fallen asleep. I was pissed every year that I missed Santa! When clearly “Santa” was my mom! My older sister was smart enough to realize that Santa Claus wasn’t real and that “he” was my mom. She discovered it because the gifts from her were wrapped in the same wrapping paper that “Santa Claus” used. Miss smarty pants also realized that my mom’s handwriting was also the same as Santa’s. At any rate, Santa isn’t something I think I would want my children to believe in. With that being said in our house you won’t find anything related to Santa. I don’t want to completely strip my kids of holiday fun so as of right now I will allow pictures with Santa to be taken every year. But I do not and WILL NOT force the belief of Santa on them. Does that make sense?

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Another thing that I do not agree with and also struggled with is Christmas being “Jesus’s birthday”. As a child and even in some churches we are taught that Jesus was born on Christmas. I know this is a very sensitive topic!! But again everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Throughout the years I thought Jesus was born on Christmas. That is something that has been ingrained in the American culture. I mean at the end of the day you can believe what you want and teach your kids whatever you want but that is not something that I am willing to teach my children! My husband and I are very religious people! You can walk throughout our house and find Bible’s that are actually being utilized and not just sitting there collecting dust. I’m talking Hebrew Bible, King James Bible, New King James Bible, American Standard Bible, and The Geneva Bible. So clearly religion plays a huge role in our household! Once you dive deep into your biblical history you’ll see that there were only really only a few holidays celebrated in the Bible. Holidays were really create by Constantine the Great. Therefore, my children will not be raised thinking “Jesus was born on Christmas”. They will be taught “Christmas is celebrated around the time Jesus was born.”

Will we still celebrate holidays? Yes of course! But there are only certain things we will allow our children to be taught! People do not realize how much their teachings stick with their children. So when our children are old enough to make decisions on their own we will allow them to believe what they want. As my mother allowed me to do. Thanks Mama!?