Keeping Santa Claus fun and Truth preserved

So how do we keep the magic in Christmas if we don’t tell our children that Santa is real? I like to keep a low, what I call freak out level, when handling most things where the child wants to view or read something and the parent is trying to say “no.” Well, there are families that really freak out and don’t allow family or friends to even mention Santa Claus. There is a way to enjoy the jolly old elf without worrying that you are breaking your child’s trust. The key is to allow your child to enter the story with you! The season of Christmas is magical because you are celebrating the birth of Christ, a beautiful miracle and gift from our loving Father.  If you allow your child to join you in the play of storytelling and having fun with the story of Santa, it doesn’t break the magic....

Santa Claus, Boundaries of Play -- Christmas fantasy woes

Play is not play at all if one child is left outside of the box, confused, and hurt. He has no idea where his reality ends and where the “play” is supposed to start. ...

Now in this post I want to explore what happens when the parent is breaking the rules of play. Every year around Christmas time the debate over Santa Claus comes up. Psychologists have written articles on it, parenting experts get asked about it, and I have been asked about it.  Is it healthy to let your child believe in Santa?  The rules of play and the philosophical points I'm mentioning in this blog thread surprisingly never come up in discussions of Santa Claus. 

Imagination for Children, Boundaries of Play -- Rules Broken

Boundaries of Play -- Discussion With Elementary Children: What do you say to your friends right before you start to play? (continued...)

During this initial part of the dialogue, Isaac said, “Make believe is like real life and then it gets confusing.” This really was an awesome observation and I told him that I was very impressed. It is exactly this blurring or confusion between make believe and real life that causes Academic Philosophers to continue to struggle with these questions in Philosophy of Literature and Aesthetics. He was so excited that I took his thought seriously that he told me during break, “I think it is (neat) that a grown-up can learn from my thoughts!!” This is the excitement in a good Philosophy for Children program.  This journal entry is a continuation on an important topic, Boundaries of Play: 
Discussion Thoughts for Blog Audience!
Boundaries of play… what are the rules?

Aesthetics and Ethics of Play

In this post, I am reprinting a journal log of a class that I taught with elementary children.  This class discussed philosophical questions that are important when creating fiction or the pretend world.  There are rules or boundaries for play and this was a fantastic topic to get children to consider manners and ethics in playtime.  These notes came from actual feedback from a group of about 6 children.

How do we know when we have entered the world of fantasy or play? To illustrate the topic, I used a white board and created 2 stick children to represent two girls who were starting to play.  "Here, Tiffany and Olivia wanted to play pirates"

Rescuing the Metaphor for Children

I was able to meet and talk to a wonderful mom about her son who has Asperger's Syndrome. What a wonderful little face! I have an opportunity to work with him weekly to develop thinking skills through poetry and literature. I'm hoping that other Christians will help raise the alert on this growing trend with our children. After reading from a different mom's testimony that her AS son declared through tears, "I'm the stupidest thing God ever created on this planet!" The mother and son broke down and she brought her son home for his schooling. I'm hoping that a I might help this child to never feel this dispair. God loves these children, and loves how they think.  As Christians, we will need to help them develop their thinking skills (whether as teachers, counselors, tutors or just loving parents and grandparents) so God's Word may be read and His Will be done.  A primary characteristic of Asperger's is the inability to understand metaphorical language.

Falsity in Folklore? Metaphors and Iconic folk characters

I was just reading a popular series for children when I noticed that in the introduction, the portal of magic for this particular book was owned by Morgan Le Fay, a “magical librarian from the time of Arthur.”  Now, you may have already guessed from my previous posts that I’m a great lover of fantasy, fairy tales, folklore, and science fiction.  I believe they are extremely important in the ethical and literary development in children.  (Our Lord is not afraid of your child’s imagination.)  Too often, censoring these types of materials is done from fear that God will not triumph in your child’s life.  With that defense of imaginative literature having been said, I will make my next point.  When you read a reference in a story that has its roots in Biblical metaphors or literary lore, you should be aware of the character it’s pointing to...

Extreme Tattooing -- body beautiful?

As a librarian, a lot of material comes across my attention.  One that I had to look at more closely was a title on extreme tattooing.  I quickly learned that the tattoo artists and those who are receiving the tattoos view the human body as a canvas or a sort of diary, where their personal history is etched into their skin forever.  What is even more amazing is the vast number of people who are covered by the feet so to speak in tattoos.  One girl was quoted as saying she didn't understand those who did not tattoo their skin, "it's so blank, what's the point?"  Clearly, the human body is seen as something that is their own personal and private property.  You might at first not think that odd.