Home: No More Santa Clause!

A wonderful wooden Santa Knodder from Poland

One might wonder why an avid Santa Clause collector, such as myself, would be pleading for no more Santa Clause?  
I am so very fond of Santa--as a "character"--just like Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit.  
Today just happens to be St. Nicholas Day.  St. Nicholas is the foundation of Santa Clause, after all.  If you have ever read Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge (or viewed one of the movies based on the story) there is a fine representation of the place that St. Nicholas plays as a courier of what is to come.  Good children were rewarded and the "naughty" children had a chance to mend their ways.  In Holland, an older family member or elder member of the community, who knows the children, or are advised by the parents of the child's behavior "plays" the part of St. Nicholas and will offer comments on each child's behavior by name--"naughty or nice".  Candy or cane!
Germany seems to get the proper perspective of how to handle Santa Clause; that St. Nicholas is like an advance man, coming to bring evidences of what is to come...from the the "Christkind" or "Christkindel"--the Christ Child.  Here is where we derive Kris Kringle...a corruption of Christkindel.  There is no ONE version of St. Nicholas, or Kris Kringle, or Santa Clause, or Sinter Klauss, but most agree it stems from the real personage of St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra.  I hear all the time about how we are not supposed to ruin the illusion of Santa Clause for the little ones, but I am opposed to the whole idea of telling our children to "believe" in something that doesn't exist...like the Easter Bunny.  Why choose to adopt that scenario, when it is much more relevant to explore the many stories surrounding the real person.  You don't have to give up "Santa", in order to do so.  We didn't.  We still have Santa's--I have them in all sorts of mediums.  But, should Santa be the giver of gifts??  Wouldn't it be more appropriate to let St. Nicholas have his day, but the focus of Christmas actually be the gifts from the Christ Child??  Actually, I can even make an argument to do away with both customs, but I realize they are customs and traditions and not really something Biblically based.  
There are many places on the web that will tell you the wonders of the "true" St. Nicholas, and these stories (for most are embellished and have been traded with other stories and customs) are quite interesting and can be used to teach morals.  Every country and region has their own version of Santa...but there is one story that doesn't change and is true--and that is the relation of the Christ, the Saviour's Birth.  So, I say Happy St. Nicholas Day!  but, let's not fuse and confuse the made up cute stories with the wonders of real life.
My youngest sister is totally of the opposite thought--she presents the idea that holding fantasy as reality is very appropriate and can support a child through difficult times.  I guess we will just have to disagree on this one.  I think she feels that when she actually found out that the "good deeds" were actually performed by our parents, that that increased her fondness and affection for our parents--that they would go to all that trouble in order to make things special for her.
 I still feel it sets up a disconnect between truth, and fiction.  I am not asking people to give up stories like Peter Pan or Pinocchio...fantasy is a wonderful thing...and I ask that parents are careful to keep truth and explore fantasy.  
I will encourage  readers to investigate the history of St. Nicholas.  Of course, there are stories I wouldn't share with little ones--about how children were cut up into pieces and thrown into a pot--and St. Nicholas called them forth from the pot and they came out whole...this one is a bit gruesome and scary.  There are many others.