Do you have
a child on the brink of outgrowing Santa?
I love the way this mother handles
the situation. Instead of simply confessing to the myth she brings the child
into the story and in the process teaches an important lesson in empathy.
She takes
the child out for “coffee” and tells her she is grown up enough to become a Santa.
Then she explains that being a Santa means paying attention to what other
people need and finding a way to provide that need. This, of course, is all
done in secret. Then, the mother helps the child to meet someone’s secret need.
This keeps
the secret of Santa going for younger children (as well as friends and
classmates.) It also gives the child a different perspective on the gift getting part
of Christmas that so easily reinforces selfishness and greed. Now, the child is
taught that giving is about others and not about how many presents are under
the tree.
I love the
way this pivots one family tradition into a lifelong lesson. It is a
beautiful way to motivate your child to do good things for others because of
good experienced in the past – not simply to be rewarded.
In this
process we can teach our children that the good things we do can only come from God. We
cannot do good deeds without the work of the Spirit and we find the desire to
do good because of the sacrificial love of the Father and Son.
Finally, all of you,
have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble
mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary,
bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. I Peter 3:8-9
