With a little over two months away from Christmas I thought I'd share how and why we don't do “santa”. Recently someone asked me how we handle Santa as they were worried about how they would explain all this to their two year old. I thought about it for a while and tried to go back and figure out when and how we told our kids about Santa.

Then it hit me, we never did. We don't really talk about Santa at our house. I know you're saying out loud, “but you live in America and he's everywhere” how did you not talk about it. Our kids know who Santa is, but they also know that he's pretend. They know he brings gifts, but he's never brought them any because he's pretend and their gifts come from mommy and daddy. They know Santa wears a red suit and you sit on his lap, but they also know he's pretend.

You see, when the kids were little we tried to start not buying in to the hype of Christmas. I try very very very hard to keep the hype about Christmas on our Savior and not on gifts, Santa, Christmas cookies and all the other junk that is hitting us hard each Christmas season. It is hard. It's hard for me. I have already been trying to find a date for my next Christmas Cookie Exchange that won't interfere with any other parties. I love Christmas parties. I love Christmas music. I love Christmas smells. They all bombard me for my time and attention, but I try so hard to not lose the “reason for the season”. (Oh wow that was cheesy, but I had to do it!)

So, if you are wondering how we do Christmas without Santa …. we just do it. My kids aren't depressed over it or sad b/c they are missing out. They have no clue. Santa is fun. We take pictures with Santa, but at the end of the day he's just Santa to us. Nothing more. Nothing special. Just a fat man in a red suit with a big beard.

*Please remember that this is our life and how we do things. If you do Santa we don't think one bit less of you. For the love we probably do things that would make you think we were the worst parents in the world! This is just our life and how we do “santa”!

Jamie Ivey