Santa pause?
By Elizabeth Prata
I work in an elementary school. I work mainly in kindergarten, first, second, and third grades. The age range is about 5 to 9. These are prime years for kids to be old enough to have built a mini-history of family traditions around this holiday, to know about Christmas as the gift giving day (Presents! Stuff!) and about who it is that brings them, (Santa!).
I was on lunch duty this week and a first grade boy (age 7) raised his hand to flag me over and when I bent down to ask what he needed help with (opening milk carton? a juice spill?) he gestured to the boy next to him and said, “He says Santa isn’t real? Is he real or not?”
Gulp.
Just then the School Counselor walked by. Saved! I referred the child’s question to her. Her reply, “Ask your parents.”
Phew. Dodged a bullet there.
This is the time of year that whether your child is secular schooled, privately schooled, or homeschooled, they at some point kids who do or don’t believe in Santa no doubt will rub elbows with another child who does or doesn’t believe that Santa is a jolly old man who had a magic sleigh led by flying reindeer and clambers down chimneys of all the children in the world in one night bring them their desired gift items.
When you put it like that, it does sound fanciful. How can a child even believe this?
Oh, but they do. Christian parents may (or may not) have a dilemma on whether to tell their kids about Santa. Justin Peters has thoroughly examined the question of Santa and has a 45 minute video exploring the issues around this ‘jolly old elf’. He also wrote a book about it which you can purchase at Amazon. It’s called Santa Pause: A Biblical Perspective of Santa Claus.
His video is called Santa Pause. Peters goes over the above topics listed in the screen shot; History of Santa, Characteristics and attributes of Santa, and drawing some biblical conclusions.
Santa Pause video by Justin Peters
Christian writer and Georgia teacher's aide who loves Jesus, a quiet life, art, beauty, and children. View All Posts
