yes, it's another Santa blog.

Are you resistant to commenting on controversial posts? Do you think that stating your feelings for or against something makes people that disagree with you offended, therefore you don't say anything at all?

I think this happens a lot. And I will go ahead and say this..... if you are super thin skinned, you shouldn't approach anything that you consider sensitive subject matter on a blog. I see a lot of blogs that say "it's my blog and I will say what I want." Well, if you leave that blog public, and open to comments, you should also realize that people will disagree and at times, will leave comments that reflect that opinion. As long as it isn't something that is blatantly disrespectful, or downright slanderous, I think those comments should be left there for others to see. (If you think their thoughts are stupid and not factual, let them embarrass themselves.)

As for the latest topic, which is Santa, I am going to go out on a limb and say this: I realize there are exceptions to every rule, but I am not being a liar to my children by giving them gifts that they think are from Santa Claus. As was stated on another person's comments elsewhere, I don't "do Santa" while others "do Jesus." That is about as off base as you can be, and pretty darn offensive to a Christian like myself who happens to give my kids Santa gifts. I know it wasn't directed at me, but I still thought it was completely and utterly wrong in my case.

We celebrate Christ in my house way more than one day a year. We start and end every day in prayer. We don't have a meal in this house, or in a restaurant, that is not first prayed over. So a minimum of 3 times a day, we as parents lead our kids in giving thanks to our Savior. We are not a perfect household by any means, but we do change our daily prayers to reflect what is going on at this moment, therefore my kids have had it reinforced for several days now when we pray that Christ's birth is nearing, and how very grateful we are for that. I think when you deal with God on a daily basis with your kids, that it's not hard to instill into them what Christmas really is. We don't only talk about God on Easter and Christmas. (Not implying that anyone in specific does, I am speaking only for my household) Santa is a small part of Christmas for my kids, but quite a magical and fun anticipated part as well. There's a lot of focus on Santa messing up the true meaning. Well, even if you take Santa out of the equation, the commercial side is still hugely a negative thing regardless of whose name is on the "from" tag. I have seen a lot of focus on several blogs about buying only 3 gifts for your kids, in comparison to the three wisemen's gifts. I think that may be a good thing for some people,but it wouldn't work for me. I would just end up piling a ton of stuff into their three boxes and would defeat the purpose. I think the real reasoning behind that system is to make it less materialistic, and I would drop the ball on that. I do buy my kids a lot, and I don't deny it. Probably too much. But that's just my call as a parent. And for some reason, I can accept "ridicule" (for lack of a better word) for spending too much than I can for being called a liar to my kids. I mean, where do you draw the line? Is it a lie to say "let mommy kiss it and it will feel better?" Because you know that didn't really fix anything at all. What about the tooth fairy? Is that lying? Or do those lies not count since the tooth fairy doesn't come on the 25th of December? What about when your kid says "can ____ spend the night next weekend?," and you say "I'll think about it" knowing full well your nerves cannot handle 24 hrs with ___ and you are just hoping your kid will forget they ever asked.

Anyone who is offended by anything I said: it wasn't intentional. I am just stating how I feel about it all.