Since it’s getting around that time with Christmas and since I have seen a few people discussing this topic, and also since this blog is about “Bringing Up Benjamin”, I decided to say a few words about what we are doing with Benjamin this Christmas. I know there are a lot of people who have been saying {for some time now, I’m sure} that allowing your Children to believe in Santa Claus is a sin because it is a “lie” and all lying is a sin. Now, don’t get me wrong – I do believe that lying is a sin, even what people call a “little white lie” {I still don’t know what that even means}. But what I don’t believe is that allowing your kids to believe in Santa is lying.
If it isn’t lying, what is it? It’s make believe. It’s pretend-play. Right now, Benjamin wouldn’t know the difference between make-believe and reality because those concepts are just too heavy for him. Right now, he thinks that Dora really exists, that Mickey Mouse is alive and kickin’ {after all, he saw him at Disney, didn’t he?}, and that when he hides behind a blanket, we really don’t know where Benjamin went! He pretends to eat fake food, he pretends that Bailey drinks out of his cup, he pretends to read books. On Halloween, we pretended that he was a puppy, and he still likes to pretend to be a puppy. He likes to pretend that Papaw is a horsey and can give him rides. He likes to pretend he is an airplane.
So what’s wrong with pretending that Santa Claus is real?
Was it lying when we said that he was a puppy on Halloween? Is it lying if we say we can’t see where he went when he hides behind his hands? Is there really that fine of a line between pretending and lying?
I don’t think so. We didn’t feel the need to tell Benjamin at Disney that Mickey Mouse wasn’t really Mickey Mouse, he was just a man in a suit. Why? Because it’s make believe. And there is nothing wrong with pretending.
If it hurts your conscience to let your kids believe in Santa, then don’t do it. Benjamin, on the other hand, really likes “Ho-Ho” and we are very excited to pretend about him this year. I know I enjoyed pretending about Santa around Christmastime, and I think Benjamin will too.
Chelsea, you have misunderstood. Clearly. I don't feel the need to say the same thing over and over. I was obviously saying "believe" as in "make believe". You need to stop treating everyone, especially Christians, like they are rank sinners. You in your post pretty much called me an unfaithful Christian because I choose to pretend with Benjamin about Santa Claus, and I don't appreciate that coming from a sister. I just don't understand how it is hard for you to grasp that I have obviously not been passing this on as truth to Benjamin and that we treat it as make believe aka NOT TRUTH. "We will tell the story of santa, but we won't LIE by saying Christmas morning a magical man from the North Pole and flying reindeer brought him those toys and that elves made them, blah blah blah. because at that time it is more than imagination." I haven't even told him that story but when I do obviously I am going to continue with the make believe.
ReplyDeleteChelsea, you need to practice reading and not thinking that everyone else out there is full of sin and that you and your husband are the only ones who got it right. You waste more time misunderstanding people where you could actually be spending time doing some good for Christ's cause.
Have a nice day. Any further comments will be deleted because frankly, I don't feel like discussing anything with you anymore because you don't read and it's frustrating.