How To Help Your Child Understand Why You Don't Celebrate Christmas

Many families have stopped celebrating Christmas or have scaled it down, bypassing the holiday hoopla. However, even if the decision has been made for good reasons, it's hard for kids to understand why all their friends are celebrating Christmas when they aren't. Here are a few reasons and helpful tips for explaining those reasons to your children.

"It's too commercial" has become one of the phrases heard throughout the Christmas season. More people every year have decided to withdraw from the holidays because they want to protest the commercialism that has been brought into the Christmas season. It is difficult to combat the consumer mentality but not impossible. By avoiding watching too much TV and not going to the shopping malls, it can make it less of a distraction.

By teaching your children to share, instead of having "the gimmies" they are able to bless others. By putting sharing into practice, children can understand the concept, rather than just saying, "We're not going to do Christmas anymore." Take them to visit nursing homes, donate to charity and show them how good giving can make them feel.

Santa Claus is a big part of modern Christmas traditions. However, some parents have decided to uninvite him from their homes, because they feel as if they are lying to their children. Other parents feel they are blackmailing and bribing their children into good behavior in exchange for gifts. It is probably easier to not start referring to Santa Claus when children first come along, even though they hear and see his image everywhere.

When they are old enough to understand the difference between real and pretend, parents can sit down and explain the story behind Santa Claus. There are many helpful age appropriate books for explaining the difference between the historical figure on which Santa is based and the modern traditions. Many of these books show all the different versions of Santa Claus from around the world.

A few years ago, it became popular to have a birthday party for Jesus in many Christian homes, to try to downplay the role of Santa Claus in Christmas. However, in recent years, some Christian families have decided to not celebrate Christmas at all after learning the history behind many modern traditions and the link to pagan traditions. Since some people believe Jesus was most likely not born anywhere near December 25th, many Christians have stopped celebrating in December. They prefer to focus on Jesus all year, instead of one day a year.

While it can be difficult to explain to children why a family might suddenly stop a long-standing tradition in your home, it isn't impossible. With love, patience and having age appropriate conversations, the transition can be made easier. They need to know it's not because they did anything wrong and are being punished. If you can give your children good reasons and not just "because I said so" the transition will be smoother.