In the Christian community (ESPECIALLY online) there is a lot of controversy over celebrating Halloween, and whether or not to “do” Santa Claus.
In our house Matt (my husband) and I have compromised (which is what Halloween & Santa have in common 🙂 ) on what and how we celebrate. Our children are still very young (3.5, 15 months & 2 months), so this is the first time that we have really had to make a decision. Matt grew up celebrating Halloween, going trick or treating, and believing in Santa; I did not. I went trick or treating one time, when I was three years old (And I was an incredibly cute Barbie, thankyouverymuch, complete with the late 80’s plastic mask), and I have always known the truth about Santa Claus. My parents told me about Saint Nicholas and that it was lots of fun to pretend, but that Christmas is about Jesus’ birth. And (very importantly) NOT to tell other children that Santa doesn’t exist, because it’s up to their parents to talk to them about it.
When Matt and I sat down to talk about what we would do as a family he assumed we would do things the way he always had, and I assumed we would do things the way I always had. In the end though, following my husband’s leadership in our home, while still expressing how strongly I felt about things, was much more important than simply having my way. So what do we do? I gave in on Halloween and he gave in on Christmas :). The children may dress up and go trick or treating (the picture at the top of this post is the girls being ladybugs on Halloween last year, even though we didn’t go anywhere), and we explain to them about Saint Nicholas (real), and Santa Claus (pretend). We don’t do anything scary for Halloween (witches, ghosts, etc), and we focus on Jesus at Christmas, while still reading Christmas books & watching DVD’s where Santa is the main character, just for fun.
(The girls & my parents, Christmas 2012)
I want to make sure to say-this is what works for our family; what you do in your family may be very, very different on either end of the spectrum, and you will get no judgement from me whatsoever! I just wanted to share what works for us in this season that is approaching where so many are conflicted about what to do. I encourage you to pray about the matter, and then stand firm in your decision no matter what opposition you may recieve! How do you celebrate Halloween and Christmas? (And why?) Please leave a comment, I would love to know! (Or if you have any questions about the details of how we came to our decision then ask away-I didn’t want to make the post too long!)
My Three Suits 