This is an interview with Dawn and Mark, whose family decided to celebrate Christmas without Santa Claus, elves, and flying reindeer. They, along with other families from their church, chose to take the commercialism out of the holiday so they could focus on the birth of Christ. While unconventional in today’s society, they found it liberating. By removing the distraction of Santa, the pressure of having to track down that hard-to-find gift, and the superficial traditions the secular holiday brings, they were able to focus on those that had meaning and find fulfillment in Christ alone. After all, shouldn’t Jesus’ birth be enough?
1. What prompted your decision not to include Santa in your Christmas celebration?
In the late 1980’s, our pastor at Catonsville Assembly of God challenged the congregation to not allow Santa to infiltrate our Christmas. When our son Alexander was born in 1992, we were torn on what to do since we had both grown up believing in Santa. After much thought and prayer, we agreed that Christmas had become too commercialized and the focus had shifted from Jesus’ birth to buying and getting things.
When our kids were young, we would go to their grandparents’ house and all the cousins would have a big gift exchange. It was a zoo! Nothing but wrapping paper and pandemonium! It made us very sad and bothered – it had become all about the stuff they got without any mention of Christ’s birth (just Santa). We decided as a couple that this was the perfect time to teach them the real meaning of Christmas and chose not to include Santa in our holiday celebrations.
2. How did you communicate this to your kids and how did they respond?
We told the kids the truth – that Santa was a fictional story many families chose to tell their children, but we were choosing to focus on Christ. We explained that the holiday was not about getting gifts, but celebrating the Lord’s birth into our world. Jesus received three gifts from the three kings, so we decided to carry that tradition into our own gift giving. Each child received three major gifts and we loaded their stocking with some nice, smaller things. The kids never complained or regretted not growing up with Santa. Our boys are now 24 and 26 and both said they are glad we made that decision.
3. Did you receive any push back from friends and family? If so, how did you respond?
Yes, we were chastised by family and friends, but we stuck to what we felt was right. They requested that we make sure our kids didn’t tell their kids there was no Santa, which we obviously agreed to.
4. What activities or traditions do you practice to keep focused on Christ?
When our kids were young, we read an advent devotional with them. We rewarded positive behavior by having them lay a piece of straw (i.e., yellow yarn) in the manger to help keep baby Jesus warm. On Christmas, we baked a birthday cake for Jesus and left a trail of individually wrapped mini candy canes from the kids’ bedrooms to the Christmas tree with the presents underneath. We sang happy birthday to Jesus and the kids blew out the candles before opening their presents. As the kids got into their mid to late teens, we offered to donate $100 to a cause of their choice. (For additional family activities to focus on Christ this Christmas, see the Resources section below.)
5. How has your decision to celebrate Christmas without Santa positively impacted your family?
We didn’t have to tell a white lie about Santa. We didn’t want our children to question whether Jesus was real too, or just another made up story. We didn’t want our children to find out when they were older that Santa wasn’t real and feel disappointed about Christmas. Instead, we wanted it to be a time of joy upfront and we established traditions early on that led them to be excited about celebrating Christ’s birth instead of getting gifts.
By only giving three gifts for each child, it reduced commercialism and took the pressure off trying to find that impossible gift. If we couldn’t get it, we wrapped a picture of the item instead and told them it was coming (we could do this since Santa wasn’t bringing it). It also saved us time, money, and our sanity during the holidays.
6. Is there anything else you’d like to share?
We would love to see Christians going back to the basics and showing Satan we can resist his schemes no matter how “fun” he makes them! Our family doesn’t regret our decision and it has grown us closer together while growing us closer to Christ.
If you would like to reach out to Dawn or Mark, you can email them at stouteandabout@gmail.com or mstoute57@gmail.com.
If you have a holiday tradition or activity to share, please leave it in the comments. Thank you!
Family Resources to Focus On Christ this Christmas:
- Random Acts of Christmas Kindness Cards, Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt, and an Advent Reading Plan by Not Consumed
- Conversation Starters and Prayer Prompts by Lifetree Kids
- The Christmas Star from Afar (A Christ-centered alternative to Elf on a Shelf – I LOVE this!)
- An Advent Devotional Plan – This year we’re reading A Thrill of Hope together. You can find tons of Free Advent Plans in the Bible app here.
- Christ-Centered Christmas Books for Kids
