Although we didn't celebrate Santa at Christmas, I can see how he could fit into the festivities

How Christmas might be a good assistant in child rearing?

I don't remember Christmas being held over our heads as children.   We watched the children specials and memorized the Santa Clause jingles in every form.  Somehow it doesn't seem to stick in my mind, a time that I said to myself, I won't do this or that naughty thing because Santa won't remember me.  We did believe in Santa and we did get good grades, but we also did naughty things at all times of the year, Christmas notwithstanding.

Since working in childcare, I have seen parents starting in September reminding and pulling out Santa as an impetus to progress and better behavior.  I didn't even think about that with my children.  I thought about truth and a lie.  

I thought if I tell that lie about Santa, they may not believe me about Jesus.  That was my only reason for not invoking his name.  We read his history, like Christopher Columbus and Miguel Cervantez and Horatio Nelson.  I forgot to tell them not to spill the beans to the believers in Santa cousins.  We felt sorry for the deceived children who couldn't find it in their hearts to try to behave for Galatians 6:1 sake.  God said it. There is forgiveness with Christ that He may be feared.  They didn't mean harm in sharing with cousins that Santa was a historic figure and that He wasn't actually coming down the chimney on Christmas.  They thought that truth was obvious.

Well there is something very sober about rearing children to try to be good for goodness sake and to expect good from God and ignoring the Santa motives.

Still, I feel I missed a great opportunity of investing in the imagination of my children in that season.  We have many special memories, but Santa was an aside.

I love what Santa represents in this time in my life.  I love the trout that we all know that children need multiple motives to behave and one of them is imaginary and special and all kind, unless you are naughty.   It draws out their own attempts at finding good and kind motives for younger people and maybe it could snowball into great imaginations of better and better motives to do good.  God should be enough, we know.  But, sometimes people need great imaginations of better people than the ones that they know to guide them to a good imagination of God.  That is what I have grown to believe about Santa.

"Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love Him."