Christmas Equals Santa??

There's two more days left in November.

Then it's December.

So stinkin' crazy.

Time just always seems to fly.

I love winter.

I hate the cold.

But love the snow.

And the lights.

And just about everything else about winter.

There's always a buzz in the air.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the world is buzzing.

Life always seems brighter, better, fuller.

It's a time of family, love, and joy.

Unfortunately, it seems like that buzz always dies after Christmas.

But I'll save a post for that later...

For now, the world is abuzz and I love it.

The only thing we're missing is snow.
I really really hope we get a decent amount of snow by our wedding.

I want beautiful snowy pictures outside.

I get so excited for Christmas. 

It's such a happy time, spent with my family.

Christmas will definitely be weird this year, though.

Waking up in Tom's house and doing Christmas morning with Tom's family and not my own will be really weird for me. 

Oh yeah, have I told you?

Tom & I will be living in his parents' basement to start out.

We'll both be finishing school and we really want to avoid renting a place if possible.

We want to save our money to put a down payment on a townhouse or something small to begin with.

It'll work out quite nicely, I believe.

We'll have our own bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, a family room with our TV, an office area for Tom's computer, and even a pool table!

Our own little starter home!

I've already moved most of my stuff in, and we've already got pictures hanging on the walls. It's slowly been transforming into our home.

There's a door at the top of the stairs leading to the basement.

I made a joke that I'd get a "welcome" mat to put outside the stairs.

Back to Christmas, I've got news to share.

You know that jolly fat guy in the red suit?

Goes by the name of Santa?

Yeah, that's the one.

Thomas and I have decided not to have our kids believe in Santa.

At first, when Thomas suggested the idea, I was completely opposed.

Christmas without Santa??

No. Freakin. Way.

But the more we talked about it, the more it actually makes sense to me.

What the heck does an old fat man delivering presents by magic have to do with the birth of Christ?

This is why people have lost sight of the beauty of Christmas.

Santa is the reason Christmas is so commercialized.

Well, at least one of the reasons.

But really, why have Santa?
Aside from teaching children to create a list of gifts they want for Christmas, Santa serves no purpose.

Sure, you can tell kids to behave or Santa will bring them coal, but does that really work? 

Um, no.

So, we've decided:

No Santa.

When our kids are old enough, probably around the age of four, before they start school, we'll explain to them that some families believe in Santa.

And we'll explain who Santa is, what he does, and all that jazz.
And we'll cherish the story of Santa, and watch all the classic Christmas movies.
But we'll teach them this man isn't real.

And that Santa has nothing to do with our Savior.

And yes, at that age, kids do understand who the Savior is.

Sure, they'll probably throw fits about why we can't have Santa - especially when they're in school and other kids talk about what they got from Santa.

But hopefully, eventually, they'll understand why we chose not to have Santa.

Hopefully they'll understand that Christmas is not about the presents you get - that's just a perk of the season.
Christmas is about love, charity, joy, and life.
It's about spending time with family, helping others, giving to those in need, and going out of the way to be the face of Christ to others during the season of giving.
Christmas is not about presents.
We want our children to always remember Christmas isn't about the gifts we receive. We want our kids to remember Christ on Christmas.


*sigh*
It'll be years before we actually have to do anything with the whole Santa shin-dig. 
But when the time comes, we now have a plan!
In the meantime, I'm going to relish in the fact that Christmas is right around the corner.
My first Christmas with Thomas in two years.
My first Christmas with my {husband}.

Let's cross our fingers that it's a white one!