To do or not to do...

I have read quite a few posts by various people who are not 'doing' Santa with their children. For us it has kinda been a no brainer. Neither Adriaan or I grew up entertaining the idea of Santa so it was never an issue for us and not an issue with the wider family either (which I know can present some significant conflicts in some families). There are a number of reasons we don't focus on Santa but I think an important one is the possibility of creating confusion between Jesus and Santa. We tell our children about Jesus - but they can't see him. We tell them about Santa and they can't see him either (except dressed up in the shops). So in some ways Santa could become more real to them than Jesus. Yet as they grow older, they begin to realise the mythical nature of Santa... so is Jesus just a myth as well? They end up associating Christmas with both Jesus and Santa and for a two or three year old this might get quite confusing. A conversation with Caelan yesterday demonstrated this quite well.

Caelan was looking at our Christmas pudding.

C: Have some cake?
Me: No, that's the pudding for Christmas day.
C: Some birthday cake?
Me: It's kinda like a birthday cake. Christmas is like Jesus' birthday.
C: I'm scared Jesus.

(Note: the day before the local fire brigade had driven down our street, with fireman and Santa walking behind the truck collecting donations. Caelan was completely freaked out about Santa. He was really scared and kept talking about him walking down the road. We don't go Christmas shopping so he hasn't seen them in the stores).

Me: You don't need to be scared of Jesus. Jesus loves you and cares for you. Why are you scared of Jesus?
C: Scared Jesus run away.
Me: What are you scared of?
C: Scared of Jesus on the road.
Me: Oh, sweetie, that wasn't Jesus, that was Santa!!

We have not talked with Caelan about Santa at all before this. He has seen Santa on Wiggles end of year show ( one year ago) and maybe on a few Christmas cards. But obviously, to my horror, he has associated Jesus and Santa with Christmas and thought they were the one and the same. Hopefully now we have been able to differentiate between them for him.