Remaking Christmas

This year is Xavier's first Christmas that he really gets what is going on. When Advent began, I asked Xavier what Christmas was about. It broke my heart to hear him say, "presents!" I wanted to cry! Oh no! He totally misses the point! Thus began my challenge to put Christ back in Christmas.
I asked, "Who's birthday do we celebrate on Christmas?"
Xavier - Your? (mine in the 28th of November)
Me - No.
Xavier - Mine?
Me - No. Jesus!

Wow! I really had my work cut out for me. What are they teaching him in pre-school anyways?

Every day I have the opportunity to teach him about our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

It is all new to me and not an easy task. But I know that with His help, I can teach Xavier and make it about HIM not presents.

We put up the tree and on top is the star. Yay for teaching moments!

Me- God put the sky up in the sky to show that a new King had been born. Do you know who the King was?
Xavier- baby Jesus!
Me- (heart about to burst!) Yep! Do you know who followed the star?
Xavier- Who?
Me- The wise men.

Better yet, he remembered!

The other challenge is the man in the red suit. Nope, we are not doing Santa (I know *gasp!*), which is very counter family tradition. But when you make it about Santa, Jesus gets pushed out of the manger. You know St. Nicholas was originally all about Jesus...how about that?! The hardest thing to do is to ask family members to not write that the presents are from Santa and see their disappointed faces.

I know that a 3 year old may find it hard to understand that Santa is not real and that other kids believe in him and we should keep our big mouths shut and not ruin it for everyone else. My take this year is to let Santa be a character like Mickey Mouse and Bob and Larry from Veggie Tales. The key to not making Santa all about Christmas:
1. No Santa gear in our house.
2. No presents from Santa
3. No going to the mall to check out Santa
4. No lists for Santa (satisfies two goals: Christmas = Jesus and Christmas is not only about presents)
5. Just don't talk about it
6. No Santa movies this year (that takes out a lot of the Christmas movies...maybe next year)
7. Don't make a big deal out of it. 

Must be working a little since he asked me "Who is the guy in the suit?" when he picked up a photo of Santa and a puppy.

The journey continues as we work our way to the birth of our Lord and Savior. I want to continue making the journey closer to Him leading our little guy along the way.

I would love to hear how you make Christmas about Christ. Post comments below!