(Closed) Teaching Children about Xmas…our way…

posted 4 years ago in Parenting
Post # 1
Member
517 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: September 2013

So I am pregnant with my first child and I have very strong feelings as does my husband on educating our children and showing them religions and beliefs outside of Christianity. Darling Husband is athiest and I am agnostic. For me, the idea of St Nick on Xmas delivering presents to good children or bad never sat right with me and I never really believed in him. Long story short, I celebrated every year with my 2 extremely spolied cousins. If there was not a ratio of 3-1 of them having more presents then me they would THROW A FIT and curse at their mother. Xmas was horrible. Then all day I would hear how Santa loved them more cause they got way more presents. My parents always taught me to be generious at Xmas and not everyone gets presents etc.

Anyways, I came up witht he idea for my children to write them a book to educate them on different holiday celebrations around the world, including Christmas and St Nick and what other believe enad why they believe it, ending with what mommy and daddy believe. My hope is to educate our children on other cultures and to show them Christmas should be about generosity and helping others and not about getting a mass amount of gifts under the tree…and also, showing them not everyone gets gifts and it doesn’t mean they were bad, it means mommy and daddy don’t always have the money too..this was one of my biggest pet peeves with Xmas, was I wanted to teach my kids not everyone gets gifts, and we need to help. Anyways, I have summarized what I wanted to say on each religion and wanted feedback on if I am phrasing the religious practices right…anything to add or delete or any other religious holidays around Christmas time to include.

Thank you in advance for any feedback!

“

Judaism

 

Jewish Festival of lights – People of the Jewish faith celebrate Hanukkah. They have a different calendar from Christians, and start their celebrations on the 25th day of their month Kislev. This is around our November-December. They celebrate a great victory that allowed them to reclaim their Temple and light their Menorah. A Menorah is a special candle holder that has 8 places to light candles, and the centre candle, or 9th one, is the helper candle that is lit to light all the other candles. You need oil to light the Menorah and when the Jewish people entered their Temple there was only enough oil to light their Menorah for one night. They lit the Menorah and miraculously it stayed lit for 8 entire days. Since then, during the Jewish Festival of lights which lasts 8 days, the family gathers on each night to light another candle. The centre candle is lit and that lights the first candle on the first night. Then on the second night the first and second candle are lit, and so on until the eighth night when all candles are lit. Each of these nights the family exchange small gifts with one another and on the eight night a great feast is had.

 

Islam

 

Muslims celebrate Ramadan – they celebrate Mohammad who had their religious book, the Koran, given to him by God. Like Moses was given the 10 commandments in Christianity, Mohammad was given the Koran by God. Islam has a different Calendar from Christians and Judaism as well. The celebration of Ramadan begins at the first sight of the Ramadan moon and changes each year. Muslims celebrate Ramadan by not eating or drinking during daylight hours for the period of the Holiday. But when the sun sets, families gather and feast with special treats and food reserved for Ramadan only. At the end of Ramadan, a celebration of Eid al-Fir and ending to the daylight fasting happens. A great celebration is had by family gathering.

 

Christianity

 

Christians celebrate on December 25th the birth of Baby Jesus. Jesus, is believed to be the son of God. His mother, Mary, as visited by an Angel who asked her to bring God into the world through his son, Jesus. Mary agreed, and her and her husband Joseph waited the months until Jesus would be born. God felt that people were losing their faith in him and he wanted to show them his goodness through Jesus and have Jesus lead people back to Christianity. On what is believed by Christians to be December 25, Mary gave birth to a little boy named Jesus. Jesus would grow up and would help the poor and sick. We call Christmas, Christmas because another name for Jesus is Christ, so it is “Christ’s Day”.

 

Santa Claus

 

Santa Claus is not based in religion, but is celebrated alongside a traditional Christmas Holiday. Santa Claus or Saint Nicolas, was a Christian who spent his life giving away his money to children in poor areas of the world. Over the years, people started seeing him as a large bearded man in a red suit who would visit all the homes in the world on Christmas Eve and deliver presents to all the Children.

 

What Mommy and Daddy Believe

<br />There are millions of children around the world who do and do not celebrate what we know as Christmas. Some children receive gifts, some do not. Some mommy and daddy’s can only give small gifts to their children because it costs a lot of money to buy presents. We want you to celebrate the holiday Christmas by being generous and helping others. Each year, we will donate some of your toys that you do not need anymore to children who may not be able to get nice presents like you. By you doing this, they can wake up like you on Christmas morning and have presents to open and you will make them happy by sharing what you have. Christmas-time is about family, sharing, and celebrating and being thankful for what you have and sharing with others who do not have as much some of what you have.”

Post # 2
Member
1522 posts
Bumble bee

Great idea! and growing up I LOVED hearing about different christmas traditions including Santa in every country (putting presents in clogs and shoes instead of stockings- mind blown). Its important to know what everyone celebrates and why. I love the real meaning of Father Christmas- and honestly I only learnt about him as an adult when I moved to the Netherlands and saw ‘zwarte piet’ and almost had a heart attack! But then they explained how sinterklaas had rescued a slave boy and I found out that Saint Nicolas was actually a real man in history (I honestly had no idea and just thought he was a story). I think the good v bad children was invented over time by parents trying to scare children into being good. But I think its great that you want to teach your children the real meanings behind all the religions and traditions! I will try to do the same when I have children too.

My only advice… make sure your children dont tell other children Santa isnt real-or you may have a few crying kids and annoyed parents at your door! 

Post # 3
Member
1649 posts
Bumble bee
  • Wedding: November 2015

missjewels:  I really love this idea! My Fiance is a non-denominational Christian. I have no clue what I believe. We were both raised Catholic and neither of us believe in that anymore. We both really want to teach our kids about a bunch of different belief systems and this seems to be a good way to start. 🙂

Post # 4
Member
325 posts
Helper bee

I think this is wonderful! I teach cultural diversity to special education students and would love a book like that! Plus, I’m agnostic ( raised Lutheran) and dear fiance I’d Jewish. I’m in the process on buying my first menorah for the holy days.

Post # 5
Member
1522 posts
Bumble bee

wifetobee63:  You are so right! There should definitely be a book on all this- available to everyone haha. 

Post # 6
Member
9916 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
  • Wedding: June 2013

There are tons of other books you could use, too, to help them understand cultures around the world in a really authentic way.  I like the idea.  

At my school, teachers in third grade do a “traditions around the world” unit after Thanksgiving and before Winter break.  The students go from class to class with a passport and learn about different cultures around the world.  They’re a little basic in their treatment of them — it’s like, food, holidays, games, etc. — but it’s a great introduction.  Most of our students celebrate Christmas, but they celebrate it in the American way, so it’s neat for them to learn about, like, Sweden and St. Lucia, for example.  

Post # 7
Member
2500 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: August 2013

My Darling Husband and I are Christians so celebrate Christmas from that perspective and, when we have children, we will also bring them up in the same way. 

I do love your idea of donating old/unwanted toys to needy children and I definitely would like to do something similar when the time comes.

Post # 9
Member
9548 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
  • Wedding: August 2013

I love the sentiment behind this. I absolutely agree that it’s important to teach kids about lots of different religions. Honestly, I think we hear about this the most at Christmas, and I wish it were more incorporated throughout the year. But that’s another issue.

I think it’s a nice book. It might be a little beyond your kids for a few years, so be ready to talk about things on a simpler level when they’re little. But I like the idea. Also, you realize these three religions have the same origins? You might want to expand and include some other branches of religion like Buddism, Hinduism, Sikh, Shinto, Native American beliefes, etc.

Post # 10
Member
1231 posts
Bumble bee
  • Wedding: August 2014

What a great idea! I think you should publish this so I can buy it for my kids someday.

Post # 11
Member
1168 posts
Bumble bee
  • Wedding: April 2014

This would be a great children’s book to read every year around Christmas!!

Post # 12
Member
2715 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: September 2012

I think it’s awesome you want to expose your children to other religions and celebrations.  I have a couple of comments though.

1. What age are you planning to introduce this to your kids?  Be careful not to do it too early or they won’t fully understand and go blabbing to other children that Santa isn’t real.

2. Allah is usually what they call God in Islam – so I might change that.

3. I’d suggest adding a section about Native Americans and Winter Solstice and maybe something about Hindus and their festivles.  

4. Something about the section about what Mommy and Daddy believe doesn’t sit well with me.  You aren’t really explaining your beliefs, you’re explaining more that not everyone gets presents and what your kid have to do and doesn’t flow quite right IMO.  I think I might rewrite it to something more like:

“While some children celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Ramadan, Mommy and Daddy believe in celebrating kindness and generosity and family.  We give each other presents to show that we love and care about each other.  However, some mommies and daddies don’t have enough money to buy their children presents and some children don’t even have a mom and dad!  We are very lucky to have new toys and warm clothes and a nice house with plenty of food and we want to share that with other children who are not as lucky.  That is why every year we go to the *instert orphanage/organization thing here* and donate our old toys/clothes/whatever we don’t use any more (or new ones you bought).  We want to help the other little children and show them they are loved.  That way they too can have a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or Joyous Ramadan.”

Something like that – it isn’t perfect.  I changed all the “you’s” to “we’s” since they way you have it written it’s more what the child has to do as opposed to what you all, as a familiy, do.  It clarifies that you ALL give something and ALL celebrate and not just the children.  Make sense?  You can also make it a nice family tradition to go to the local orphanage/Salvation Army/Good Will/other charity and drop off the toys.  It might stick with them more if they actively give their toys away instead of just reading about it.

Post # 13
Member
7358 posts
Busy Beekeeper
  • Wedding: October 2014

Perhaps you could start by celebrating all of the religious holidays and holy days with your children, before they are even old enough to read or get much out of reading/being read to. Light a menorah for Hanukkah and include some small traditional gifts. Observe a Ramadan fast (even if you only fast a day of the whole month). Put up Diwali lights. Etc. 

Post # 14
Member
517 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: September 2013

Thank you all for your wonderful feedback! I actually want to include more religions I just don’t know very much about Hinduism and Aboriginal Beliefs so I want to research them more before I write something. I will change God to Allah thank you for that suggesstion. 

I don’t really like the books out there cause its either a book on that specific religion OR it focuses on Xmas traditions in other areas of the world. My point in all this was to introduce them to all the beliefs and why someone may not celebrate Santa or Xmas and so thye have a basis like “Oh ya I have heard of Ramadan before you do this” and they have that basis. 

As for introduction, probably around 3-4 slowly start. I don’t want presents under the tree from “Santa” which we will be telling family. And form year 1 we will be donating presents etc. So this would be introduced during the “why” stage which is around 3-4 and to explain why we do what we do as a family and why others do what they do. 

Thank you for giving me help with the mommy and daddy section I was struggling with how to word it and that gives me a better basis.

As for spoiling it for other kids…Santa will never be apart of our holiday traditions, nothing under the tree etc. They will be going to a public school so no heavy Xmas/Santa talk. As for “is Santa real” they will be taught Santa is a wonderful tradition and really did exist and was a wonderful man who brought joy to lots and some children still believe he continues to do it and that is what they should believe cause thats what there mom and dad taught them so if you are ever asked if you think santa is real you can say yes because he was real. I am presenting him like a story like frozen, a wonderful idea. But does he actually come down the chimney, that is a wonderful story that’s it. It won’t be a black and white “no” with them cause kids don’t get that…there has to be a full explanation behind it.

And really if a parent calls me and says my kid spoiled it for them, well I will have a discussion with my child how that isn’t right but really these are our beliefs…would they call a Jewish mom and say your kid said Santa and Christmas isn’t real…probably not,

Thank you all again!

Post # 15
Member
1984 posts
Buzzing bee

missjewels:  Most Christians who understand the history and timeline of the Bible don’t actually believe that Jesus was born on the 25th of December. It was more likely in early spring. December 25th is just the day we celebrate it because there is no specific date. So I would take out or change this sentence: “On what is believed by Christians to be December 25, Mary gave birth to a little boy named Jesus.” I would just change it to, “Mary gave birth to Jesus…” and then continue on with the rest…”who would grow up to help the poor and sick.”

 

I never liked the idea of Santa Clause either. Darling Husband and I are not going to do anything in regards to that tradition with our kids.

  • This reply was modified 4 years ago by  MrsWoods47.

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