2001-12-11 - 6:07 p.m. - Santa Claus

Well, Rebekah’s first day at the new school went well. She was really excited about it last night, and kept saying that no one called her “fat”. The teacher said that she is certainly ready for Kindergarten, and the only thing that needs work is her handwriting. HA! They should see the handwriting of everyone else in her family! That’s why I type everything and if you should ever get a hand-written note from me, good luck reading it! Actually, I have the best handwriting in my family (IMO) so she really is going to swimming up stream to get neat handwriting.

I made a crude, but functional, advent calendar and hung it up in Natalie’s room. I found a book titled, “Mary’s First Christmas”, which puts the Christmas story in flash-back form, like Mary is telling the child Jesus about the events around his birth. It has been good to read to remind me, and Rebekah, of Jesus’ humanity. The first chapter has Mary comforting Jesus after some neighborhood boys picked on him and threw rocks at him. The second chapter has Mary cleaning his wound, and him crying about the pain of the treatment. I think it will be good for Rebekah to see that even Jesus, God’s only Son, was picked on and mistreated by his peers. Maybe the verse that talks about Him understanding our problems because He experienced it all, will be more real to her. So, right now, we’re reading a chapter a night, then taking a figure out of the pocket on the calendar, counting down until Christmas. In truth, I don’t know how else to impress on them the true reason we celebrate Christmas. Some of DH’s friends had a grand idea that I think we will implement. In their house, Santa brings all the crummy stuff, like clothes and educations toys. The parents are the ones responsible for the toys and candy and all the good stuff. That way, the kids don’t associate Santa as being the source of everything good. It helps keep that figure in perspective. I’ve given up on trying to not have Santa at all. With the girls being in daycare, they hear about him from all the other kids, and the school has reinforced it. I’ll admit, I even let them get their pictures taken with a Santa at the Christmas party Sunday night. I’m disgusted with myself. All my high-standing morals and ideals, I’ve turned my back on. I’m raising secular, greedy kids, just like the rest of the world. How did this happen!?!?

On the otherhand, I’ve been telling Bekah that Santa only takes gifts to kids who’s mommies and daddies don’t have the money to buy stuff on their own. She said last night that her family was giving her gifts because we all loved her and because we all could afford it. I guess that’s a start. I just don’t ever remember being so enamored with Santa Claus as a kid the way that the kids I run into these days seem to be. Of course, my parents were strict Pentecostal preachers, and my mom stayed home with us, so there was very little Santa Claus reinforcement from the outside world.

Until next time...