Santa Clause Adding Pressure to Christmas

The big red jolly man and his wife are supposed to add joy to the season. In fact, many times when we see them, if they are doing a good job at their post, we smile. Children love to get their photos taken with them in the shopping center.

This article is not going to debate the existence of the couple but in fact is going to look at the pressure that they cause. Many times for families whose children believe in these people and the cute little elves, have the extra pressure of finding the gifts that the children want to maintain these beliefs. According to tradition, Santa gives gifts to children who behave themselves throughout the year. Not providing these gifts is basically saying that the children did not behave. Whether they did or didn’t behave, parents might not want to disappoint their kids because they do love the children.

So what happens when children want the most expensive items on the market but the parents can’t afford them? More parents are finding themselves in this situation and it adds a lot of stress to the holidays – a lot of bad unwanted stress.

One of the ideas of such a holiday was the giving spirit – to think of others, to help others. This holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus and with the celebration of Santa Clause, the real meaning of Christmas has much been removed. Even for those who celebrate Christmas in a different way or from a different religion, the big jolly man has found his way, inadvertently, to somewhat corrupt this special time of year. It might not be deliberate but it has been all too easy with big corporations pushing their products.

For individuals who want their children believing in Santa, The Santa Clause movies are good ones for the children to see. They are older movies, they still condone the belief of Santa but they teach that it’s not just about the presents even though the thought of giving is important. Jack Frost in the third movie of three personifies much of what is wrong with the holidays today.

For those individuals who want to get back the real meaning of Christmas, maybe it’s time to take Santa out of the picture and simply teach what the true meaning really is. This meaning might be different to the various individuals around but having spirit of being kind and having the spirit of giving can’t really go wrong. This can really take the pressure away from Christmas and can even prevent some of that debt that tends to build around this time of year.

Whether or not the belief of the persona is instilled in children, there can be pressure. This is not necessarily because of what the parents teach the children but due to peer influence. It isn’t always something that can be prevented. The pressure however can be reduced if it is dealt with correctly.