Here in the Gaston household, we have a fun tradition that we’ve started at Christmas in the way that we teach about Santa Claus. We try and have a little fun with it while at the same time using it as an opportunity to get our children to start thinking outside of themselves. So, this is what we’ve done:
Each year, we pick a country/culture and we talk about the way that children in that country celebrate Christmas. We talk about what they believe about Santa, how he comes (if at all) and any fun traditions that they do in preparation for Christmas.
This year, we went Dutch on our children. We talked about Sinterklaas, how the children fill their shoes with hay and sugar to feed the horse that he rides in on, and then we prayed for the children in the Netherlands that they would know Jesus and have fun with their families on Christmas day. It’s a fun way for us to talk about Santa, a great way for them to start thinking globally, and also spend some time praying for the people in that culture.
