Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, tooth fairy...

[Unregistered]

I am a fairly new christian. Even before I found and accepted Jesus Christ as my savior I had a very big moral dilema. I have two children from a previous relationship, and I have two step children . My spouse and I have a big disagreement about what to tell our children about these fictious characters. It all started when my daughter came to me as said "So and So in my class didn't get very much for Christmas, so he must have been bad" I feel that first off Christmas is sooooo far gone on what it is really about. I don't want my children to feel as though Santa Claus is Christmas, because it is not. We lie to the kids. Anyhow I really really want to tell my kids the truth, but I get soooooo much flak from my family and spouse(all non-believers) They feel that I am ruining it for their kids and for my step kids who's mother is very much a part of their lives. As we know kids tell kids, so I am the big bad guy. I have tried to steer my children away from the whole Santa Claus business, taking them to church, reading the story of Jesus's birth, and we put together a shoe box of gifts to children in third world countries. I think my daughter was wise to it all because she said " So they think we are Santa Clause?" I said no, we are not pretending to be Santa Clause, we are just being kind. By the way my children and 7 and 5. Do you think I should tell them? How do you all celebrate?

[Ann]

Hello and welcome to ilj
You are very wise to tell your children the truth. It is better for the child and it brings more honor to the Lord. Children need to know that they can trust that want mama and Dad tell them is the truth. The easter bunny and the customs surrounding it are derived from pagan fertility festivals. The santa and many other "christmas customs" also have pagan origins. They may look like “harmless fun” but they can call up spirits that are not godly and give them an open line of access and your children do not need that. It may be easiest to understand this way. When you dial a wrong number without meaning to you connect to someone you did not want to talk with. But once you make the call that person potentially has your number on their caller ID and can call you back any time. It works much the same way in the spirit world. When a person does something even “in fun” that makes a connection they can get a can get unwanted contact from harmful spirits. These connections need to be broken in Jesus name and by the power of His blood.

Your reply about the shoe box gifts was excellent. It helped the children enjoy reaching out an helping others and at the same time showed them that it can be done without having to be part of something that is not true. I believe you had God’s wisdom in giving that answer. Because your step children’s mother is an influence in their lives you will need God’s wisdom again in helping them see the truth without insulting her. If they understand that Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are made up characters you can use that to help them understand that just as people like to pretend that they are really seeing Mickey and not just an actor in a mouse suit they like to pretend that the easter bunny is real.

Here is a web sites that talk more about the origins of these customs.
http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html