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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Sucking the Fun Out of Christmas!!! What to Do
daycare 01:37 PM 11-30-2011
I do not have a religious program here at my daycare/preschool.

I teach my focus on winter, Snow, winter animals, and the commercial side of Christmas.

So today DCM walks in and says "We are not doing Santa"!!!!!!!

Ok, please explain what you mean...

DCM goes on to tell me that her son is asking questions about Santa this year and that DCD and her do not feel it is right to LIE to their child about Santa. They don't want to make something up that is not real and then ask their child to believe in it....... This is the only American custom I know and I will teach this to my child....

Sooooooo.. NOW what???????????? I didnt really know what to say. I thought I was in the clear with avoiding the religious side of it, but guess not



What do all of you do?
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Cat Herder 01:40 PM 11-30-2011
I'd probably tell her I am closed the week of Christmas to keep it from being an issue.
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daycare 01:42 PM 11-30-2011
Originally Posted by Catherder:
I'd probably tell her I am closed the week of Christmas to keep it from being an issue.
lmao.................oh so mean....

but funny!!!

Seriously....People have to many darn issues these days....lol UUUGHGHGHHGHGHHG
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Country Kids 01:44 PM 11-30-2011
So is she saying she doesn't want you and the kids talking about Santa??? That would be a hard one! MMMMMmmmmmm

Wait-does Nan have any ideas?
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nannyde 01:46 PM 11-30-2011
Originally Posted by Country Kids:
So is she saying she doesn't want you and the kids talking about Santa??? That would be a hard one! MMMMMmmmmmm

Wait-does Nan have any ideas?
In my policies:

We are a Christian family and observe Christian holidays and celebrations.
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daycare 01:49 PM 11-30-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
In my policies:

We are a Christian family and observe Christian holidays and celebrations.
But does Santa have anything to do with Christ? Forgive me if I sound ignorant. I really don't know too much about either....

I just view Santa as a commercial thing
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JenNJ 01:53 PM 11-30-2011
This is a home based daycare. Because of this, the children will be exposed to our family's and other families personal, political, and religious beliefs at times. If you find this offensive, please ask for a schedule of events and arrange for back up on the days you choose for your child not to participate. Payment is still required on these days as the daycare is open and you are choosing for your child not to attend. Holidays are decorated in this home so if this is offensive, please choose another daycare arrangement. Thank you!
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daycare 01:58 PM 11-30-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
In my policies:

We are a Christian family and observe Christian holidays and celebrations.
BTW I'm mad at you.......

Why didnt you tell me this before I printed out my PHB!!! lol just kidding...

BUT really...just when I thought I had it all covered!!!!!
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DBug 01:59 PM 11-30-2011
We don't do Santa with our kids either . BUT, we do make sure they understand not to ruin it for other kids if they choose to believe in Santa.

If you do address "Santa" with the dc kids, what about reading stories about St. Nicholas? That way you're not "lying" but you're also educating the kids on the basis behind the idea of Santa, and how he was all about giving to others.
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Cat Herder 02:02 PM 11-30-2011
There was a really heated thread called "Santa Claus" , I added tags to find it.
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Breezy 02:03 PM 11-30-2011
http://www.cozi.com/live-simply/truth-about-santa

here is the link!!
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daycare 02:09 PM 11-30-2011
well, we have a Santa that is coming for cookies and milk the Friday before Christmas. He will bring a gift to each child.

We are also going to do x-mas wish list to santa.....

I guess I can do as someone said since I still have time and print out a list of activities for the month. I will let them choose and decide when they will or won't participate...
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AmyLeigh 01:58 PM 11-30-2011
Originally Posted by daycare:
I do not have a religious program here at my daycare/preschool.

I teach my focus on winter, Snow, winter animals, and the commercial side of Christmas.

So today DCM walks in and says "We are not doing Santa"!!!!!!!

Ok, please explain what you mean...

DCM goes on to tell me that her son is asking questions about Santa this year and that DCD and her do not feel it is right to LIE to their child about Santa. They don't want to make something up that is not real and then ask their child to believe in it....... This is the only American custom I know and I will teach this to my child....

Sooooooo.. NOW what???????????? I didnt really know what to say. I thought I was in the clear with avoiding the religious side of it, but guess not



What do all of you do?
It's okay for her to not teach her child about Santa. But she also has to make it crystal clear to him that it is something other families like and think is fun, so he is not to ruin it for his daycare friends.
If you are doing Santa activities with the other dck's, ask Mom what she would like her child to do in lieu of them. Expand on the other winter themes, maybe? If she observes the holiday in a religious manner, maybe she can find some activities that agree with her beliefs and send them along with the child.
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juliebug 02:27 PM 11-30-2011
you still do your Santa stuff and tell her the days and times it will be done if she doesn't want her child to know that she can have her child at home that day.

done it before i also have 2 kids that don't do santa but never had a problem with my santa stuff
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Crystal 02:39 PM 11-30-2011
This is why I don't do ANY holiday related "teaching" or "crafts"

I'm personally not big on celebrating holidays anyway, but other than that, we live in a VERY diverse country and there will almost always be a family who practices other beliefs. I would not want a teacher or provider teaching my kids about holidays/rituals/etc. that I didn't agree with, and I respect other families in the same way.

I realize that this family does celebrate Chritmas, but do understand their choice to be honest with their child.

Besides all that, it saves me a TON of time and work not doing the crafts that are never really appreciated by the parents anyway.
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daycare 02:43 PM 11-30-2011
Originally Posted by Crystal:
This is why I don't do ANY holiday related "teaching" or "crafts"

I'm personally not big on celebrating holidays anyway, but other than that, we live in a VERY diverse country and there will almost always be a family who practices other beliefs. I would not want a teacher or provider teaching my kids about holidays/rituals/etc. that I didn't agree with, and I respect other families in the same way.

I realize that this family does celebrate Chritmas, but do understand their choice to be honest with their child.

Besides all that, it saves me a TON of time and work not doing the crafts that are never really appreciated by the parents anyway.
Oh yes of course I respect their choice! This is why I LOVE AMERICA! The freedom of CHOICE! I won't get into much more than that...

I just don't know what this mom wants me to do... Like I said in my previous post, I will type out a calendar of our events and let the mom decide what her child can participate in.

BUT I refuse to not allow it in my home, as this is what I teach my own children and I have no plans to change it...
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SilverSabre25 02:35 PM 11-30-2011
daycare...don't take this the wrong way, 'cause I mean it very nicely. But--

WHERE do you find all these "wonderful" parents? Crazy-Mart?! You do seem to have quite the interesting bunch!
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daycare 02:37 PM 11-30-2011
LMAO................I live in the land of the fruits and NUTs......CALIFORNIA!!!


Seriously, I have some interesting parents to say the least.... And all of them are "professionals" Lawyers, doctors, business owners....
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caring4kidsinSD 11:33 AM 12-01-2011
[quote=daycare;172063]LMAO................I live in the land of the fruits and NUTs......CALIFORNIA!!!

QUOTE]


I agree One year when I was teaching 1st grade in California, we didn't do an "easter bunny" craft like the other 1st grade classrooms did(It was my first or second year teaching). To me Easter is about SO MUCH MORE than easter bunnies and wasn't going to do anything big since it was a public school - other than a spring celebration with cookies and a movie of some kind. But apparently to one of the girls in my room Bunnies was a big deal. , she likes bunnies and told her mom she was upset that we didn't make the bunny craft so the mom went to the principal(Not me) to complain and I got called into the office and wrote up - REALLY OVER A STUPID CRAFT PROJECT!!!
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daycare 12:47 PM 12-01-2011
[quote=caring4kidsinSD;172429]
Originally Posted by daycare:
LMAO................I live in the land of the fruits and NUTs......CALIFORNIA!!!

QUOTE]


I agree One year when I was teaching 1st grade in California, we didn't do an "easter bunny" craft like the other 1st grade classrooms did(It was my first or second year teaching). To me Easter is about SO MUCH MORE than easter bunnies and wasn't going to do anything big since it was a public school - other than a spring celebration with cookies and a movie of some kind. But apparently to one of the girls in my room Bunnies was a big deal. , she likes bunnies and told her mom she was upset that we didn't make the bunny craft so the mom went to the principal(Not me) to complain and I got called into the office and wrote up - REALLY OVER A STUPID CRAFT PROJECT!!!
OMG are you kidding me.....wow that principal gave that parent way way way too much power. Now that's NUTS

As I can see you are no longer being refereed to as a nut or a fruit anymore...lol South Dakota...Freezing cold yet?/
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wdmmom 12:55 PM 12-01-2011
We don't do Santa Claus per se. We celebrate Christmas with decorating, making fun wintery/Christmas type crafts, we have a Christmas Dinner and each of the children get a gift from me.
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MarinaVanessa 01:20 PM 12-01-2011
I guess for me it's VERY important to teach about diversity and tolerance and that starts when children are very young. My parent's and I grew up Catholic however now I consider myself Christan. Even though my parents were hard-core Catholics they encouraged me to learn about other cultures and religions. They spoke to friends and neighbors of different religions and had me visit with them on their days of worship and go with them to services. I learned a lot about other people. I continued to do this as I got older and in high school I even studied with Christians, Jehovahs witnesses and Jewish people. It really opened my eyes to how similar our religions really were and I learned the reasons for their beliefs.

This I think made it easier for me to be more tolerant and open to respecting other people's beliefs. I run my daycare based on this idea also. As soon as potential clients walk in the door I let them know that we learn about and celebrate ALL types of holidays and celebrations. I guess it depends on the families that I have enrolled and what their customs are. I enjoy hearing about their cultures and customs and then finding a fun way to incorporate that into daycare. Somtimes we make food, check what horoscope sign we are, play a game they teach me, sing songs, make a craft about our animal sign (chinese). None of the families that sign up have ever had a problem with it maybe because when we do a project like this we don't go deep into religion or label.

For example I had a little girl and they were Jewish so I would say something like "Suzie's mommy shared some fun facts with me. Suzie's family believes that a long time ago there were people that wouldn't let families like Suzie's believe in what they wanted so those people tried very hard to get their temple back. When they finally did they wanted to celebrate by lighting a flame with oil that would last forever but they only had enough oil to keep the flame burning for one day. But do you know what happened? The oil kept the flame burning for 8 whole days until they could get more oil! Isn't that amazing? Suzie's family now lights a menorah with 8 candles on it. They light one candle each day to represent all of the days that the flame stayed lit with that little bit of oil." We do the same for Santa, Jesus, the Easter bunny etc. As odd as it seems even my Jehovah's witness family was fine with us having a Christmas tree, however I respected their request to not give their children Christmas gifts and gave the rest of the DC kids their gifts after this family went home for the day.

Of course I consider myself very lucky to be able to do this and because it's so easy and fluid when we do. Like I said however, my familes know ahead of time that it's important for me to do this and to be able to have all of the children celebrate their beliefs, customs and cultures here in small ways.
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AmyLeigh 12:57 PM 12-01-2011
Originally Posted by daycare:
LMAO................I live in the land of the fruits and NUTs......CALIFORNIA!!!
I thought I was the only one who said that!!!
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Springdaze 02:49 PM 11-30-2011
We do Santa. Cant people treat it like a story if they dont like lying to their kids?
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CheekyChick 03:07 PM 11-30-2011
I would say...

I'm sorry, but we have fun with the holidays here. Our main focus is not on "santa" it is on the joy of the holidays. Santa may or may not be brought up during the day and I hope you will bare with us during this exciting time in every child's life.

Then I would send home a bunch of santa crafts. LOL!!!
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cheerfuldom 03:18 PM 11-30-2011
I would let her know that if Santa projects or discussions come up, her child will be separated from the group in accordance with her beliefs and they will be given an alternative craft or activity to do. you will not tailor the groups activities for one child.
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PitterPatter 04:29 PM 11-30-2011
Originally Posted by daycare:
I do not have a religious program here at my daycare/preschool.

I teach my focus on winter, Snow, winter animals, and the commercial side of Christmas.

So today DCM walks in and says "We are not doing Santa"!!!!!!!

Ok, please explain what you mean...

DCM goes on to tell me that her son is asking questions about Santa this year and that DCD and her do not feel it is right to LIE to their child about Santa. They don't want to make something up that is not real and then ask their child to believe in it....... This is the only American custom I know and I will teach this to my child....

Sooooooo.. NOW what???????????? I didnt really know what to say. I thought I was in the clear with avoiding the religious side of it, but guess not



What do all of you do?
I tell them upfront when I go over the handbook that we celebrate the major holidays and the characters therin. I say we are a christian family and do belive in Jesus and God but do not preach it. I point out that I have some crosses, items with phrases of God and Jesus. I also point out that we also celbrate each childs birthday. I ask if they have any questions.

I suggest putting somthing like that in your handbook for future reference and to end future possible problems. Something like this... we celebrate the major holidays and the characters therin. Cant recall exactly what mine says but it's like that.

As for now I would tell her she didn't have a problem in the past and your beliefs haven't changed and won't change. Then offer her December off.

Good luck with this one!
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Kaddidle Care 06:58 PM 11-30-2011
Originally Posted by daycare:
I do not have a religious program here at my daycare/preschool.

I teach my focus on winter, Snow, winter animals, and the commercial side of Christmas.

So today DCM walks in and says "We are not doing Santa"!!!!!!!

Ok, please explain what you mean...

DCM goes on to tell me that her son is asking questions about Santa this year and that DCD and her do not feel it is right to LIE to their child about Santa. They don't want to make something up that is not real and then ask their child to believe in it....... This is the only American custom I know and I will teach this to my child....

Sooooooo.. NOW what???????????? I didnt really know what to say. I thought I was in the clear with avoiding the religious side of it, but guess not

What do all of you do?
You proceed as usual. Her child is how old? 3? 4? If she chooses to throw out the Santa crafts, it's on her.

You can give her your calendar and she can pick and choose which days she sends her child. She may wish to avoid the day with Santa. Whatever.

I don't stress "Santa" in my household but my son still believes in him. In fact, he's only been to see Santa and sit on his lap, etc. once in his life. The local Fire Company makes a round with Santa waving from the Fire Truck every year. That's as much Santa he gets.

I still wrap presents from us and from Santa.

While I think the letter on the link above is nice, I think it's beyond the comprehension of a child that is still questioning.

I think the Public Schools have gone overboard as usual with trying to be politically correct when it comes to this season. My son brings home Gingerbread men, Menorahs and Kwanzaii projects. I smile and put them on my fridge but deep inside I say to myself, "Where is the Nativity?".

That's why I bring him to Church so that he can learn about the true meaning of the season for us.

To each his/her own.
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sharlan 07:56 PM 11-30-2011
Your home, your daycare, your choice. Politely let the mother know that you've chosen to celebrate Christmas and your children (at least your little one) believe in Santa Claus and your not changing that at this time.

Her child, her home, her decisions. Have they chosen to not celebrate Christmas or just the commercialization?

And for those who are celebrating but calling it another name, you are still celebrating Christmas and the gift giving. That reminds me of the local churches that do not celebrate Halloween, but have a Harvest Festival instead. They have big carnivals with costumes and candy on Oct 31. They can call it what they want, but they're still celebrating Halloween.
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MN Mom 06:01 AM 12-01-2011
Santa Claus - Wikipedia

Jolly ol' St. Nick has been interpreted in many forms, from many different cultures and has a rather long history based on folklore. Most of the lore is based on a real person, however! Here is the version of which most Western Cultures derive Santa from:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia:

Saint Nicholas


A medieval fresco depicting St Nicholas from the Boyana Church, near Sofia, Bulgaria

Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Sinterklaas. He was a 4th century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes.[8] He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari, wanting to enter the profitable pilgrimage industry of the times, mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Christian Saint and procure his remains. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was desecrated by Italian sailors and the spoils, including his relics, taken to Bari[9][10] where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout, thus justifying the economic cost of the expedition. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers.[8][11] He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow.[12]

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countrymom 06:23 AM 12-01-2011
just curious, what is the reasoning for the mom not wanting to do christmas.
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youretooloud 07:25 AM 12-01-2011
Originally Posted by countrymom:
just curious, what is the reasoning for the mom not wanting to do christmas.

I think they just have chosen not to do Santa. But, hopefully the parents realize that Santa is everywhere during Christmas. So, while she doesn't have to say "Yes, Santa is real", the child will still need to be exposed to it during the Holidays. It's just a character.

*SPOILER ALERT!!*

↓↓↓↓↓↓

Mickey Mouse isn't real either. So, if they go to Disney World and they take pictures with Mickey, are they going to make sure he knows it's not Mickey..because Mickey isn't real? Maybe they will say "It's just costumes" but, they certainly don't expect the characters to clear out of the park because their family knows the truth. The characters are just part of the atmosphere. Just like Santa is part of the Christmas season.

I'm willing to bet the MOm knows this, and is fine with it, but just wants to give the provider a heads up, that they aren't doing the whole Santa thing with their own kids.
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countrymom 06:23 AM 12-01-2011
Originally Posted by sharlan:
Your home, your daycare, your choice. Politely let the mother know that you've chosen to celebrate Christmas and your children (at least your little one) believe in Santa Claus and your not changing that at this time.

Her child, her home, her decisions. Have they chosen to not celebrate Christmas or just the commercialization?

And for those who are celebrating but calling it another name, you are still celebrating Christmas and the gift giving. That reminds me of the local churches that do not celebrate Halloween, but have a Harvest Festival instead. They have big carnivals with costumes and candy on Oct 31. They can call it what they want, but they're still celebrating Halloween.
yup I agree.
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SunflowerMama 07:40 PM 11-30-2011
There is a great book out there that maybe you could tell the parents about. It explains the story behind St. Nicholas and the truth with that story. It's a great Christian story for kids.

It's called...

Santa are You For Real?

http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Are-You-...2710402&sr=8-1

I don't know why it's so expensive on amazon (I paid $12 a few years ago) but you can read some of the reviews here about it.

So it doesn't take away all the magic and puts a little bit of truth behind the concept.
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Tags:christmas, christmas activities, santa claus, santa not
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