Why Our Family Chooses Not To Celebrate Santa

My oldest son is 4.  For atleast the last two years when people see him during Christmas time somewhere he gets the question "What do you want Santa  to bring you for Christmas?"  We chose not to do the tradition of Santa in our home well before he was born.  I choose to not make an issue of it, but he doesn't understand the question.  So I say to him "Tell them what you are hoping to get for Christmas".  This way we don't have to sit there and explain out our reasons---however I am choosing to do that HERE today.

  Here are our reasons:

1. Santa has become an idol to many children, and we don’t want our children having any gods before the Lord.
"You shall have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:3

2. And obviously – the tradition of Santa takes away from the real meaning of Christmas.  It also puts them emphasis on GETTING and not GIVING.

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Matthew 6:19-21

3.  The most important one to me is that no matter what, I want to be able to look my children in the eye when they are older and in need of my guidance I can say "Has Mommy or Daddy EVER lied to you before" and them be able to respond "No."  We want our children to trust us. If tell them year after year that Santa is real and you just have to believe, and they one day find out you lied to them and he isn’t real, it is not only crushing, but dangerous ground when it comes to their belief in God. Perhaps, they think, that God isn’t really real either.

    Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from lies.  Psalm 34:13


Yes, I celebrated Santa with my family growing up.  It was fun-- but the emphasis was put on un real things rather than real.  On the getting rather than giving.  My husband's family chose to not do Santa and he has a strong conviction about doing the same for his family, so obviously he wasn't scarred by not having the "magic" of Christmas people try to create in Santa.  Besides, there are ways of making Christmas magical without lying to our children.  Check out what we did last year, I believe this will be a family tradition for years to come!

Also, we are not sheltering our children from Santa; they know who he is, we watch stuff with Santa Clause in it, etc., we just treat him like any other fictional character, that’s all.


I know that many Christian families choose to incorporate Santa Claus into their Christmas traditions, and you won’t find any judgment here! ALL of our friends have done this and we respect their decision.  We also know that to many, we are mean parents denying our children the fun and wonder of Christmas, however, we think the fun and wonder comes from celebrating the birth of Jesus and anticipating HIS coming again one day.

Does anyone else choose to not do Santa?  This is our son's 1st year where he will really understand what people are saying about Santa and we are trying to be sure he knows the truth without spilling the beans to his friends....then we really will be hated for this!  Any advice you have to share?