Jolly Old St. Nicholas lean your ear this way
listen all you little souls to what I'm going to say...
These are the words I am sure Mrs. Lusa wished Skylar had said out loud as she proclaimed to her classmates, "Santa is not real, it is just someone dressed up." She was sure to tell her little friend that elves are not real either.
When later asked, she was sure to tell you that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. Now you supporters of teaching Santa to your children, do not condemn me yet. We have parented this matter through the means of avoidance. Not my typical style of parenting but I was unsure of how to teach this one that I just let it play itself out. 
One of the reasons for not teaching our children that a strange man in a red suit comes in our house in the middle of the night while you are sleeping and leaves presents is... well, listen to the statement. With a 3 1/2 year old boy and a 1 1/2 year old, we did not want to add to any of Dustin's anxieties and I like sleep. So thus started the questionable debat. It is 3 years later and we are still in limbo of how to politically address this topic.
We do not have gifts that magically appear under the tree with the label, "From Santa" on them. There are, however, 3 gifts per child (as Jesus is sharing His birthday and that is what He got on His birthday) and there are gifts addressed to "The Garrisons" as it is nice to share. Each child has had the loving pleasure of chosing the "right" gift that they want to GIVE to their sibling. The joy that comes over their faces as they hand out that gift that they have been waiting to GIVE is so rewarding. In a later post I will show you what I mean.
I have been told by a previous employer that I am disfunctionally honest. Maybe that is why I have deprived my children of your views of Christmas spirit. But if you ask them, I think they are just fine. This is as close as we get to a man in a red suit. I'll take that. I guess we know why my children become silent when people ask, "Are you ready for Santa?"
I happen to share your view, though I don't condemn others for their methods. Though Santa is fun and "harmless", I think you can never go wrong with an "honesty in all things" policy. Then your kids can always depend on what you tell them. Besides, we don't buy gifts for our kids...they get enough from aunts and grandparents. Certainly lots of different takes on Christmas traditions out there!
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