What's Wrong With "Celebrating Santa"? | Season 5 Episode 9

Hello guys, welcome back to the Point Taken Christian Podcast.

Today we have Pastor Josiah Shipley to my right, your left, and then over here is Miss

Carissa, I almost called you by your maiden name, Chapman over here.

And today is our Christmas episode, if you can't tell, so very happy if you can see all of

our little decorations.

I'm going to give you a hint, Lowell's going to yell at you if you keep your hand there.

He's going to tell you to put the other one back.

Oh yeah, you need to move your hand.

Yeah, if you look in the monitor, you'll see yourself.

I just covered myself.

Yeah, did you see it?

So today, if you haven't seen by the topic, we are going to be talking about good old Saint Nick.

Is that coming through the...

Yes, and you're distracting.

We're supposed to be out here at a certain time.

Sorry, we watched Polar Express yesterday and only some people could hear the bell.

Oh yeah.

Alright, go ahead.

So does that mean you still believe in Santa?

Because that's what the movie...

We're going to get into that topic in a minute.

Alright, go ahead.

So with that being, it's a disclaimer, if you have young kids in the room, you might not want to watch this episode with them, so just be

mindful of that.

But first, we are going to play a little game where Mr.

Producer LOL, LOL, Mr.

Haha, Mr.

Haha.

I was laughing out loud.

That was a sympathy laugh, I'm a little upset by that.

No, not at your joke.

You said LOL, so I laughed out loud.

I was about to say, comment below if you thought that was funny.

I don't know, but she loves our interactions.

We get her every time.

I love it.

I do.

I'll probably laugh the whole episode, because y 'all are so funny together.

Up top.

Yes!

Okay, so Mr. Haha has some Christmas

movie quotes for us, and what we're going to do is see how many we get right, but it's guessing which

movie it's from, and then bonus point if we can guess who said it.

Correct.

Correct.

Okay, and you're keeping score.

Character or actor.

I'm so screwed.

Okay, Dalton.

Dalton's keeping score.

Yeah, because we don't trust Pastor after that last game we played, High of Minds.

Have you seen the last episode?

Not the most recent one.

Or two episodes ago.

It was Ashley's episode.

No, I haven't seen Ashley's episode yet.

I want the camera, okay, wide angle so you can see me.

Okay, disclaimer.

And then focus.

He caught me cheating, and then replayed

it on four screens.

Like, I didn't cheat, zoom, zoom, zoom.

Please tell me that's in the actual episode.

So you'll have to watch it.

Ten minutes later, she goes, Pastor cheated.

And then it popped up as she was talking, and I said, no, I didn't.

And then there's like an arrow, like, Pastor cheating.

Yeah, and it's just like, boom, boom, boom.

I was like, there's proof.

It covered up the whole screen.

That took him two hours.

I know it did.

That took him forever to do that.

The proof is in the pudding.

Okay.

All right, producer.

Go ahead, and we'll see.

Now, are we doing, let's raise our hands.

And whoever raises their hand first gets to answer first.

If they get it wrong, they're the person who raised their hand next.

All right, okay.

Does that sound fair?

It does sound fair.

Dalton, you help me pick who's got their hand up first.

She raised her hand.

Oh!

I know, I was going to do this one, so like, the world didn't get mad.

But like, there's cords.

It's going to have to be this one.

That's all right.

Do what you do.

All right, is everyone ready?

Yes, sir.

All right.

Hands on the table.

Oh, I had mine in my lap.

All right, first one.

You'll shoot your eye out.

All right, that was Anna.

Chris Astori.

Ralphie.

I'm wearing my Ralphie shirt.

No, it was not Ralphie that said that.

No, it was not.

It was not Ralphie that said that.

Okay, so no bonus point.

But they're multiple.

But you get a point for guessing the right movie.

Okay, but I will tell you.

The parents said it.

The parents said it.

You can't go back on it.

The teacher said it.

You can't go back on it.

Okay, that's true.

They also said it on the Ovaltine commercial.

They did not say it on the Ovaltine commercial.

All right, but now we have a decision to make.

The person who guesses the movie, are they the only one that has an opportunity to guess which character?

No.

Or do we have a speed round after that?

We can have a speed round and see.

But I was about to say that one doesn't count.

But we all knew the answer.

But you let that one go.

You actually did lay that ground rule, didn't you?

Yeah, I just got so excited.

Sorry.

That's my favorite Christmas movie ever.

So does that score one Anna, score one Pastor Josiah?

I'll give it a no.

No, don't give me the point.

Are you sure?

Yeah, because we just made the rule.

So one, zero, zero.

I don't know.

We might review and find out that Anna did clearly state that.

I'm replaying that in my head right now.

Short attention spans over here.

All right.

Does she get the point removed for answering wrong though?

That's what I mean.

No, no, no.

We don't do that here.

I mean, I feel like that's kind of fair.

Someone's on my side.

Yes.

We need her on more often.

I was about to say, we're not having her back on.

If you take the risk to do the second one, if you get it wrong.

Yeah, like if you take the risk.

Okay.

Ralphie's the only character that didn't say it, Anna.

No, it's true.

Oh my God, I shot my eye out.

It was in the future tense.

You will shoot your eye out was the quote.

I know, but I'm saying he did say that he shot his eye out.

Just an FYI.

Don't listen.

If there's anyone who argues details, it's me.

And it's when he got the zing zing.

All right.

Next one.

Dalton's in the camera.

I can see.

Hi, Dalton.

Keep the change, you filthy animal.

That was Pastor Josiah.

Oh, I know what movie that is.

Home Alone.

Correct.

Which one?

The guy on the TV movie that he plays to trick the bad guys thinking there's someone in there.

That's his name.

Which one?

Home Alone one or two?

Well, one.

I know which one.

You're correct.

You're correct.

I actually know the name of the guy who said it.

Do it.

Oh, snap.

His name is Mouse.

Mouse?

I watched this movie literally two days ago.

You know what?

His name is Mouse.

Since we can't verify it's not, I'll give her a point for confidence.

Yeah.

I'll give her a point.

Do I get a point, too?

Because I might.

When they come back to the van, the robber, he's like, some guy named Mouse.

He's saying he's going to shoot me.

No, no, no.

Hang on. Hang on.

He was talking to a guy named Snakes.

Snakes?

Shoot.

That's what it was.

Your point is revoked.

I was taking your word for it, but then you put context to it.

I'm sorry.

There's a mouse in that movie, and I can't remember what it is.

That was so close.

There was a mouse in the third Home Alone, but we don't talk about that movie.

How many did I get there?

Just one.

You got two.

Did he get two?

Because we don't know the name of that character unless you're some kind of crazy person reading every line in the credits.

Oh, wow.

But I will throw out a bonus point for anyone who can name the name of the movie.

All right, go for it.

Home Alone.

No, no, no.

The movie that he was watching.

Oh, I don't know.

I have no idea.

I don't remember the name of the movie.

All right, well, I'm about to get a point.

Go ahead.

What is it?

It's called Angels with Filthy Souls.

Never heard of it.

Is it like a real movie?

No, no, no.

Is it not?

So what's the score right now?

I have zero.

That's what my score is.

So you got three.

Anna's got one.

Does he have three?

I have zero.

I thought he had two.

He got that bonus point in the first round and then two here.

Oh, I thought we weren't counting the bonus point in the first round.

Oh, my bad.

Yeah.

We weren't? I was just going to say.

There still is two.

I thought you were all magnanimous in the first round, but this time you're going to let us down.

No, I was waiting for you to figure out how I got an extra point.

You only want points if you can gain them dishonestly.

Two, one, zero.

No, I have zero.

Her point got revoked.

I lost mine.

Two, one, zero.

Wow, if you're still here, thank you.

The scorekeeper over here, Dalton, really stinks at his job.

Well, I had him on another task.

Okay, next question.

Two, one, one.

One more tidbit, though.

In Home Alone 2, when they do that same bit over again, the movie is called Angels with Even Filthier Souls.

That's hilarious.

All right.

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

Ann was first.

There's two answers to this.

But she was buying time.

Come on now.

There's two answers to this.

Every time a bell rings.

You'll get your chance then.

Every time a bell starts with a Z, the little girl's name who says it.

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

A Wonderful Life is the movie.

It's A Wonderful Life.

It's A Wonderful Life.

And then, is it Zilly or Zoe?

It's neither of those.

Okay.

Bonus point is up for grabs.

Can I answer the original?

Because that quotes in two movies.

Well, you didn't have your hand up first.

I did.

I really did.

No, Anna was first.

We'll replay it if we have to.

I didn't have my hand up at all.

I've never seen that movie.

You'll get your vindication in due time.

You get to answer the second part of the question that I got wrong.

But I don't know the second part.

I know the other movie it's in besides.

It's A Wonderful Life.

I want to hear that, but you don't have a shot at a point for that.

Alright, that's fine.

Can I answer anyway?

Tell me, please.

So, they are watching that movie in Christmas Vacation when they walk in.

The old man on the couch.

So, in Christmas Vacation, she says, Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

Do you remember the old man's falling asleep on the couch?

Yes.

That's such a good movie.

They were snoring like none other.

I've never seen either one of those movies.

Really?

Oh, they're great.

That's why she has zero points.

Third question.

I don't watch movies.

Or fourth, whatever we're on.

If this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year's.

No, I don't know.

No?

I have a guess, but...

What's your guess?

I'm about to say, raise your hand and guess.

Do I lose points for getting it wrong?

Did Cousin Eddie say that in Christmas Vacation?

No, he did not.

I'm gonna say Christmas Vacation.

At least five more guesses.

Alright, keep going.

Say it again for me.

If this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year's.

No.

What movie is that?

We give up.

No, I...

There's a time limit.

Christmas with the Cranks.

No.

And now, to be honest, if I don't remember this quote, I was just looking up...

Fred Claus.

Die Hard quotes, and that came up.

Excellent.

That was... Die Hard quote?

According to Google.

I don't remember that one.

According to season three of Point Taken.

Go ahead.

Season five.

I'm not agreeing.

We'll harken back to season three.

I'm saying according to season three, we called Die Hard a Christmas movie.

My bad.

Next.

Alright.

Let's see what we got here.

Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?

That's Patrick Josiah.

Christmas Vacation, and the neighbors said it.

Their names are...

I don't remember their names.

Hold on, I think I do.

Their names are so memorable.

I don't know Margaret.

Okay, Margaret.

I don't know Margaret.

But why is a carpet all red?

Todd.

Todd and Margaret.

I have to call them to find out the names.

That was so good.

Thank you.

Now, she went by Margo, but...

That was almost equal.

Did I get two there or one?

No, because Todd was the one that said it.

Todd, okay.

I don't know why I'm even throwing out that bit on the name, but...

Todd and Margo, just what a power couple.

Why is a carpet all wet, Todd?

They're like the worst of the worst.

I don't know Margo.

You sound miserable.

Alright.

I'm going to amend this one.

It's not an exact quote, but you'll get the idea.

Merry Christmas.

Pooper was full.

I think he said morning.

Morning, Clark.

Crapper's full.

Did you hear that, honey?

The crapper's full.

Well, if I misquoted that, that's not on you guys.

No.

You still get your two points, Anna.

Dalton, how many points?

Are you keeping points?

That was Cousin Eddie, in case you're wondering.

I don't watch Christmas movies.

Are you keeping score?

That's so sad, but I don't.

How did I get a point for vote?

You just said I had four.

Now, I have three?

Okay.

Okay, go, go, go.

Alright.

We gotta stay on schedule.

I'm just gonna get all kinds of obscure, if that's good with you guys.

Yeah, I like obscure.

You're what the French call, les incompetants.

Oh my gosh, I know what this is from.

I don't know, whenever someone does a French accent, I think of Pink Panther, Steve Martin.

Your brain is working perfectly.

I know, I know.

That's what it's supposed to do.

I know.

It's from Home Alone.

The sister says it.

That's right.

She says it to the little boy.

She got one right!

I'd say two points for her, since she knows who it was.

I don't remember her name in the movie.

I don't know if we ever got a name, but it's just, it's a sister.

Kevin definitely goes through the entire list at some point.

I don't remember, to be honest.

It might be Lenny.

If she gets said as sister, give her credit.

Yeah, I'm giving her credit.

I just know the sister said it.

I remember the older brother's name.

Don't say it.

It might be a quote in a minute.

I know his name.

We just watched this one the other day.

Last name Lightyear.

Alright, let's go.

Yeah.

At this point, I'm coming up with these off the top of my head.

Hey, kid!

Suck brick!

That was Anna.

Home alone Marv.

Which home alone?

The two.

Alright, very good.

Two points for you.

Hey, lol looks like today, because his hair is wild.

Hey, kid!

Suck brick!

I started laughing, and then I can picture Basim.

I'm like, oh yeah.

Alright, just one more, and we'll get going.

One more.

Bye, buddy.

Hope you find your dad.

That was Anna.

Elf buddy. Buddy the elf.

No!

You missed the bonus point.

No!

No!

No!

It's Mr. Norwell!

Your brain was on autopilot.

Josiah.

I still win.

You know, it's funny.

And then she gave him the answer.

That's how you told me that.

I know.

You didn't know that?

I would have said the character in Malik.

I couldn't remember if it was a whale or whatever.

Well, that's on her.

You get that point.

Like I said, I just watched that movie for the first time two weeks ago.

That's crazy.

So it should be fresh in your memory.

I watched it last night, and I still got the answer.

So who was the winner?

Dalton, what was the score?

Oh, definitely not me.

Alright, hey, let's move on.

We're running out of time, guys.

What was it?

What was it?

No.

No, no, no.

What was the score?

What was the score?

No, no, no.

Okay.

Dalton.

Pastor had four.

Pastor had four.

Anna had seven.

Seven. Anna had seven.

Marissa had two.

You can't say how many points you had.

Seven.

He told me seven.

No, he didn't.

How many does she have?

She had three.

She had three.

Say it again, Dalton.

In the microphone.

No.

In the camera.

Hold up some fingers.

Okay.

Good job.

That was fun.

To be honest, I think Pastor Josiah was too busy laughing to raise his hand.

Especially from the microphone.

That was a good game.

That was a good game.

Alright.

Anna wins.

Okay.

So, again, if you have any small children in the room that you guys do Santa with, you might not want to

listen to this episode.

Or you might want to.

Or you...

Well, the children.

You might want to have the children.

No, no, no.

So, just as an FYI.

But today, as you see from the topic, should Christians celebrate Santa with their children?

So, this is something, ever since having children, my husband and I have talked about

whether or not we should do Santa.

And we know several people in our church who don't do it and then who do do it.

And so, it's kind of like, you know, is it lying?

Is it wrong to do that?

Is it something that's just fun?

Like, you know, what should Christians do when we celebrate Santa with their kids?

So, we're going to talk about that.

We're going to talk about our personal perspectives on Santa, how we were raised, and then what we

want to do or what we currently do with our children.

So, would either of you like to start on if you think Christians should celebrate Santa?

And then, if so, what your point of view is?

I would prefer for you two ladies to start and I'll go at the end if you want.

Well, I'll start.

So, with Santa, I don't see anything necessarily wrong

with it in the way that I celebrated Santa growing up.

So, for me, it was mostly, Christmas was such a good time in

our household growing up and my mom and dad made a point to make it very fun for us.

Like, I was telling Karissa before we started the podcast, my mom, we had an old fireplace that had like

doors to it, like it was a stove.

And so, mom would leave one of the doors open and then have like a stenciled footprint and sprinkle baking

powder in them so it looked like little snowy footprints like walking through and we're like, oh my gosh, Santa was here.

We'd bake cookies, they ate the cookies, and then the reindeer would nibble on the carrots that we set out.

So, like, that was fun.

And then she would always write a letter from Santa and have it to us so we could read the next morning.

And so, it's just like the magic behind it was just so much fun.

But, I will say, when I was in about third grade, I had a guy in my class who,

Bryson Kinsella, if you're listening, probably not, but he told me

that Santa, my brother remembered this too.

I was like, how do you remember?

You're 28 years old now.

Come on, that's 20 years ago.

Think about how much room I would have for important things if I didn't have all that.

Stuff.

But he told me Santa wasn't real and I remember questioning my mom, like, that night that we got home and I'm like, you know, is Santa real?

And she's like, well, you know, he's real if you want him to be real, you know, like whatever.

Didn't want to, didn't want to answer that because she's like, you know, it was going to be a whole thing.

So, I just kept persisting and she's like, okay, she's like, do you want to know the truth?

I was like, so you lied to me because you said the truth.

And she told me the truth and that Santa wasn't real and I remember being, like, pissed about it and just

crying, like, you lied to me, blah, blah, blah.

And then, so it's like having that trauma of being lied to as a child, you know, I say lied air quotes if

you, if you're listening to the podcast.

It just really irritated me.

But then, like, thinking about wanting to do that with my kids, I'm like, I just would really love to

celebrate like that because it was just fun for me.

But the way that my husband and I have discussed it, well, we'll, we'll get into that, we'll, we'll, we'll change.

But, like, how did you grow up and would you celebrate, do you see anything wrong with celebrating Santa?

And, like, how did you grow up?

I guess I don't really see anything wrong with it.

We didn't do Santa at all in my household.

We didn't believe in Santa.

We didn't.

Why was that?

My parents, I think it was they were spending the money and they didn't want some

fictional character to take that place.

Take the credit.

Yeah, take the credit of that.

Like, they worked hard all year.

They're the ones that put the effort in.

They're the ones that made Christmas magical.

It wasn't some fictional man that you never see who's watching you to see if you're good or bad.

So, I guess that was really it.

I don't think I had any list of a Christmas, though, because of it.

Like, I don't feel like I missed out on anything.

You know, my parents still made it a fun time.

My mom came up with all these different games that we would do, like scavenger hunts for our presents.

Like, we had a magical Christmas.

I personally would love to do Santa, but my husband and I were kind of back and forth on it because we really want

to, but at the same time, I don't want to lie to my kids.

I don't want to instill in this kind of underlying that my parents, well, what if my parents are lying about this too?

You know, not just about Santa, but what if they're lying about this as well?

So we're kind of back and forth.

Thankfully, our kids are really young, so we don't really have to make a decision right now because we haven't come to a decision on that one yet.

So that's just, I don't know.

I'm back and forth with it.

That's why I was like, Pastor wanted someone because I kind of know where he settles on things.

Even though he says, I don't know.

I kind of have an understanding.

I haven't said anything yet.

Right.

Can y 'all hear?

Justin passed.

Go ahead.

When I'm jingling not, I'm like, yeah, no.

But so how did you grow up?

Do you think it's wrong?

How did you grow up?

And then what do you plan to do with your kids or what you're doing with your kids,.

I guess?

Do I think it's wrong?

How did I grow up?

Should Christians, yeah, should Christians celebrate Santa with their kids?

There's a long and short answer to that.

My short answer would be, it depends on what you mean by celebrate Santa.

That's the shortest answer I can give.

I think it is, first off, and for those of you, we are not discussing whether or not Christians

should celebrate Christmas because there's a whole lot of

unnecessary things on that where people say you're breaking the book of Jeremiah and

pagan spirits, miss me with all that.

This is about Santa Claus.

Okay, I think growing up,

it wasn't really, it was not taught that Santa did any of that.

It was also not taught that he didn't.

It was, just to be straight with you, it was kind of like, you can't actually, in other words, my

parents just left it to a logical conclusion of, of course not, right?

For you guys to come to that on your own decision?

Right.

Like, I never remember my parents telling me this isn't real.

They just said, Mom and I are working very hard to provide Christmas for you guys.

This is what gratitude looks like, and one day you're going to have to do this for your children and work hard so that they can enjoy

this.

For me, I do think there is a scenario where doing Santa Claus for the children is wrong.

It depends on how you're doing it.

So let me give an example.

We just got done watching most of the Marvel movies with my girls, who are five and about to be three.

There's a couple we skipped, Thanos gets a little dark in a couple of them, but we just got done watching them.

It is okay to have fun with Captain America and Thor and have their little action figures, as long as you don't believe that's real.

I am uncomfortable giving anybody characteristics and attributes that only God has and calling that real.

Knowledge of who is awake and who is sleeping, knowledge of right and wrong and tensions

of the heart.

For me, those are characteristics that I only find in God, and I am not comfortable telling

my children that anyone other than God has that.

That's how my brain works.

So we can watch Captain America, but it's just for fun.

It's pretend.

But let me make sure I'm being fair.

We can go to Bass Pro Shop and sit in Santa's lap and get a picture.

I'm not saying satanic evil.

I'm not saying any of that, satanic evil.

So when you say celebrate Santa, it's not like, we're not allowed to talk about this man, we're not allowed to have pictures with him.

That's not what I mean.

What I mean is, no, he cannot read minds.

No, no, he does not give you these gifts, mommy and daddy bought you these gifts.

He cannot teleport.

He's not omnipresent.

These are characteristics only God has.

So I am okay with equating Santa to Captain America.

They are for fun.

You can have action figures.

You can play dress up.

You can do all of that.

So if that's what you mean by celebrate Santa, of course.

That's fun.

Well, I'm more from the, like, Santa is real.

Right.

I would say, and I mean zero offense to you.

I don't care.

Yeah.

I don't care.

I don't think there's a way to do that where you're not A, lying to your children and B, giving characteristics to

somebody that only God has.

Yeah.

Well, and no, and I totally agree with that.

And because my husband and I have had conversations about, he's like, well, he never bought into Santa ever.

And I was like, ever?

And he's like, no, he's like Ninny, his grandma, that's what, that's what they call her.

He's like, she's a sweet lady.

I love her.

If you're watching Ninny, I love you.

But she, she is the most competent,

no, she's more competent than my mom.

I love you, mom.

But no, so she just always made it a point to be honest with the kids.

And he just like, my husband's just a type, he's just a certain type of breed of guy, you know, he just didn't

buy into it.

And so with, with us, it's like, I just enjoyed, I enjoyed the magic of Santa, like,

you know, just the imagination of it, like him, oh my gosh, like he was really here, you know, whatever.

And so that's kind of where I teeter.

It's like, you know, why would I want to lie to my children

for a stupid, a stupid reason for like, it's because like, you're the one who's buying, you're buying all the presents for your

kids.

Yeah.

And like, you know, like you said, you grew up and you still had magical times.

Like it was still fun.

If I, if I may, exactly what she just said.

You know, the, when I say Spider -Man, there's a lot of really bad Spider -Man movies.

So y 'all just, we're doing all of them except for the cartoon ones.

We're doing all of them.

So we finished Tobey Maguire, there's a biblical perseverance there.

We finished him, we finished Andrew Garfield.

You remember Sandman and Spider -Man 3, Waste of Time movie, and then the first

Garfield, the lizard guy.

Okay.

Long story short.

Lowest of the under ones.

Lowest of the under ones.

The other, last week, the girls went outside with my flashlights and played Sandman and Lizardman and like the

trees and all that stuff.

But if you were to ask, like they played and it was fun, or maybe you would use the word magical, but not, but if you were to ask them right now, is

Lizardman real?

They would say no.

Right.

It doesn't take away.

It's pretend.

It's just for fun.

Naomi, you know, I tell her, I tell her, but they know it's just for fun.

They know that.

So I'm cool with imagination.

For me, I'm not going to lie to them, but I don't have to for them to have fun.

God made our brains imaginative.

We can play pretend.

And it's like, it's just because the way that society

builds things up and it's like, that's the way you grew up.

So it's like, oh, you have to do the same things with your kids.

And I'm not saying like, I always knew the true meaning of Christmas.

Always.

Like I knew the purpose of Christmas, that Jesus came down, like in, well, God came down as human form in

Jesus and like born in the manger, like that whole, the Christmas story, not story, but you know what I mean?

Historical count of Christmas.

And so I always grew up knowing the true meaning behind it.

But now like, and we can kind of go into this next part of the question is like, how would you celebrate

Christmas like with your kids currently?

My son's one.

So you have time.

Right.

So we have time.

But my husband and I have talked about it and it's like, we're, and this took some convincing on my part.

But after this podcast today, like I'm, I'm, I'm with him.

I'm with him, not with her, with him.

I'm in a very tricky boat when it comes to Santa.

Yeah.

Because you have a stepchild.

I have a stepchild.

And so mom celebrates one thing with him and then you want to do something else with your daughter.

And so that is tricky.

It's contrary.

We get, it can become very contradicting in a child's mind.

And so that's why Hunter and I are very, we're not sure how to present that at the same time of, I don't want

to, I don't want to ruin his Christmas at his mom's, you know, when he goes back home and spends Christmas with her.

And she says, all of these gifts are from Santa because they're big Santa believers, but I don't want to,

I don't want to, it's, it's going to be difficult.

Well, and that is tricky.

And my case is different because I just have one child with my husband and we have talked

about like being honest with our children.

And it's like, you know, this is just something we do for fun.

We like to pretend for fun.

I just don't want to ruin it for other kids that are his age or, you know, around his age of telling him it's not

real because like, what do you like do with your daughters in that?

Cause I don't want to ruin that for somebody else's kid.

I do believe it.

And you know, they're like, well Santa's not real.

Yeah.

Like me in third grade, Bryce and Kinsella.

Yeah.

Never forget.

So what do I do with my kids and how, okay.

So we watched Polar Express yesterday and during that movie, you know, they said a couple

things about him knowing people when they're, you know, sleeping or whatever.

I'm like, Hey girls, listen, only God can do that.

Only God can do that.

Not even Satan, no demon, no angel.

Only God can do that.

And if we're being honest, we're giving attributes that not even Satan has, that are literally what

makes God, God and saying that someone else has them.

That's where, and I know people don't mean it that way.

I really, that's why I'm trying to be soft -spoken when I say it, but that is what we are doing.

Right.

I personally put a very strong emphasis on honesty.

So much to the point, I won't lie.

So when the question's asked and I'm not willing to answer, I'll just say I'm not answering that right now.

As you can imagine from a five -year -old, there are many of those questions that I won't say on this podcast.

The way I do it is the exact same way I do it with transgenderism.

I've shared this before on this podcast.

Every time we go to Midtown, Ava can come to me

privately and say, why is that boy dressed as a girl?

And there's probably a lesson there in that I've never taught her that, and she just automatically knows that.

Kind of should say something.

Right.

I say, he shouldn't be, but that's not your business to tell him.

That's not your business to tell him, okay?

Same thing.

So let's use that way.

Let's use that way.

Daddy, he says Santa gave him those gifts, but really Mr. Donovan and Ms. Anna gave him those gifts, right?

Yes, but that's not your business to tell him.

You don't go around and tell ...

That's between them and their parents.

You are not their mommy, you're not their ...

I've had this talk with her several times.

That's not your business.

You're not their mommy, you're not their daddy.

Back off.

Right.

She goes, yes, sir.

She understands that.

Yeah.

So that's how I do that.

So again, but again, literally last week, there's a Elf and Santa thing at Bass Pro Shop.

Hey, do you want to go take a picture?

I don't mind.

That doesn't bother me a bit.

There's nothing evil, wrong.

It's not like a, ooh, no Santa in the house.

It's just I'm not going to say things that aren't true.

That's how I am about it.

Well, and if we could mention too -.

We'll watch all the movies and all that stuff.

Right.

Well, and if I could mention too, we actually have, and I won't identify this person or this man, obviously it's a man playing

Santa, but I won't identify this church member, but we have a member here who actually

does play Santa every single December.

And he is the Santa for one of our biggest children's hospitals in the city, which is a big deal.

It's a very, very popular hospital.

But he -.

She just gave it away.

If you're not saying -.

Totally right there.

But not identifying him.

They had a 5K yesterday too.

Yeah, the marathon.

The marathon.

But he does that for these kids who are very, very sick.

This might be their last Christmas.

And he has actually done things at our church where he did last year where he came -.

Last year we had Santa here.

Yeah.

And we had the kids take pictures on his lap, you know, whatever like that.

And that's fun.

And it's like, and that was fun.

But like I said, after this podcast, like I said, I could have, I was teeter -tottering.

Like I can see your way, I can see your way.

And then I'm kind of like now I'm kind of on the side of like, you know, and I'm not saying that -.

I'm not trying to disrespect my husband here because I have a differing opinion.

It's the way that you handle things with differing opinions, whether or not they're disrespectful.

And so that was why I'm like, okay, just tell me where you're at.

I want to understand where you're coming from.

And then I'm like, okay, I see your point.

Now after having other types of conversation in different contexts, I'm like, okay, I see more so where

they're coming from.

So I'm okay with not doing Santa.

Because to me, it's like, it's not a big deal.

Like you said, you can make it magical.

Yeah.

And like, that's a perfect example.

Yeah.

We had Santa at the church.

My girls came here.

Yeah.

Go take a picture.

Do all that stuff.

That person doesn't break into our house and give gifts that I

bought, if you're good or bad.

So funny story, Michelle, who was on our podcast a few weeks ago at this point, was telling me

before we came on here that she was terrified of Santa growing up because some stranger was breaking

in their house.

I was like, but he was leaving you presents.

It's kind of scary.

And she's like, no.

So she's like, that's the thing.

It's like you really start breaking Santa down and you're like, this is kind of freaky.

But the origin of like St. Nicholas was a real person.

Like he did really good things.

He was very sweet to children, all of those things.

And that's kind of how Santa became to be in today's age.

But I don't know.

Like I said, I can see either way.

But one thing I would be interested in is who's ever watching or listening, if you could put a comment down below to tell us what you do

with your children, if you celebrate Santa with your children,

like why you love to do that, and if you don't, what was the reason for that?

I would just think it would be very interesting to hear from our viewers on their points of view on that.

But before, because I think we answered all these questions, right?

Does anyone have anything else?

I cannot talk today.

Anything else to say?

I don't think so.

Okay.

Well, I thought we could end by giving, telling each other

our favorite Christmas memory, whether it was like a favorite toy that you got or like a favorite

account of like someone came and surprised you for Christmas or like whatever it was.

Oh my gosh.

I have to think about this one.

My favorite Christmas memory.

Man, I got to think about this too.

Okay.

I have a lot of good.

If you have one, you go first, because I'm going to have to think about this.

So one of my favorite, well, it was kind of like, well, I guess a tradition would work.

Too.

So one of my favorite traditions growing up was my grandma would always, and this is my mom's mom, she would always

come pick us up on Christmas Eve and take us into town and we would always go see a movie.

One of the movies we saw was the Jimmy Neutron movie on Christmas Eve, so I remember that.

And so she would take us out and spend time with us.

And then while we were out, my parents would like finish wrapping up presents, you know, getting things together like that, having a few hours to

themselves.

And then we would make homemade sugar cookies with homemade icing and like put all different colors and the

icing and like just tons of sprinkles where like the cookies crunchy now.

And then we would, you know, just, we would hang out at the house and do that.

So that was always a sweet memory that we had.

Now what tradition that we do is I make homemade cinnamon rolls every Christmas Eve.

That sounds good.

Do you really?

Mm hmm.

How do they taste?

Delicious.

Do you, I don't think you really make them.

I really do.

And I'll make them for our breakfast that we're having for our potluck.

And we're doing traditions.

I don't know if I have like a favorite.

Ha ha!

He said that's a tradition that will stick.

Yes it is.

It's been the last eight years.

By the way, did everyone just notice that I got Anna to bring me a cinnamon roll, which is what I want to do the whole time.

I was going to make those anyway.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

What's the big, the Cinnabon?

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Cinnabon ones.

Those are good.

So anyway, your tradition.

I was going to say, I don't know if I have like a favorite Christmas memory.

Like I have a lot of great memories.

I don't think I could just pick.

I think maybe my favorite Christmas by far was last Christmas because that was my first Christmas with my daughter.

Like it was our first Christmas of her coming into the world.

That was my favorite Christmas so far.

But my favorite tradition when I was a kid, you know how people do like big Christmas breakfasts, they go all out Christmas morning.

We didn't do that in our house.

My mom, like the day before, would go to the store and buy our favorite food and our favorite drink.

For each person?

For each person.

And that was their breakfast that morning.

So like I would, there were some years I would get like sushi and a Dr. Pepper.

And that was, it's so weird to think that's what you're eating at eight o 'clock in the.

Morning.

I'm okay with Christmas sushi.

It was my favorite food and so that was my breakfast that morning.

And so I look back and I think that was like one of the best parts of Christmas is because like it won.

It was like, oh, my mom notices these things.

My mom realizes that these are my favorite, but like it's not your tradition.

Like I'm not eating eggs and bacon.

My favorite type of Christmas memories are playing

with the toys with all my siblings and my father and my mother after we

opened the gifts.

So not opening the gifts, but Cap Guns were my favorite.

You know the ones where you put them in a strip?

Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about.

Guess what I bought my children for Christmas this year?

Cap Guns.

So look.

Ava and Naomi, I hope you're not watching.

Spoilers.

So like playing those with all them and hiding around the house and outside.

You know, it might even be cold, but I don't care.

I'm like, and, you know, you put your new hoodie on with the tag still on it, and you go outside and

you're in your new shoes that are like, you know, they might be flip flops, but you're wearing them because they're for Christmas, right?

And you're outside and you're playing with your new toys and your brothers and your sister and they

all have new stuff too.

And your dad's playing with you and, you know, some of the stuff breaks in two hours, but it was still worth it for those two hours, right?

Those are my favorites.

Actually playing with the stuff afterwards.

And that's how Ralphie shot his eye out.

Yeah.

That's what happens.

Okay.

Well, I think overall we've talked about, it's okay to do

Santa with your kids.

However, like Pastor Josiah mentioned, if you are putting godly attributes onto Santa,

then it becomes wrong.

And I don't think there's a way to do that where he is real and doing all those things and not do that.

Right.

That's kind of how I'm -.

Because that's how, like, according to the world, like, that's what makes Santa, Santa.

Right.

Like the fact that he can, you know, see -.

Yeah.

Those are his attributes.

You're on the bad list or you're on the good list.

Yeah.

And it's like, shouldn't, I don't know, shouldn't we teach them to obey so they can please God and us,

not so they can please some guy 8 ,000 miles away?

I was thinking the same thing.

Okay.

Like elf on the shelf.

I don't know if you guys do elf on the shelf with people.

I just figured out what that was last year.

So it's essentially, if you don't know what elf on the shelf is, it's essentially where you have this little like stuffed animal elf

and you put him on a shelf or you can like put him in different positions.

Move him around the house and he does all these different things.

Right.

But he's supposed to be watching you for good behavior and he reports it back to Santa and

then you're not supposed to touch him.

Well, also if you think about it, that kind of contradicts scripture because that leads you into the, you have to work for it.

You know, it adds that.

Work based salvation.

Yeah.

Like, you know, I have to work to earn this and like, you know, if you're looking at a salvation point, you can't earn it.

I'm going to possess doll.

Yeah.

We never did.

The elf on the shelf.

It's a little weird.

It kind of freaks me out.

It's like a new thing.

I'm not going to lie.

I did buy one last year, but it was because it was on clearance for like eight bucks.

I bought one just in case my sister -in -law bought one and she said, I don't even know if we'll do it.

And I was like, you can just put it on.

It's like, just put it somewhere.

It's a decoration.

It's a little elf sitting on your shelf.

It's a fun little story.

Like whatever.

But again, guys, if you would love to leave some comments and let us know your points of view on Christmas, we would definitely love that.

This is actually our last episode of season five.

So we get a well -deserved break, but hopefully, well, not hopefully next season we have some pretty good topics for

you guys that are coming up.

If you have any questions that you want answered, please leave them in the comments because we would love to address

those next season.

I already have one listener question that I pulled from the comments earlier this year.

So anyway, until next time, deuces, Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Happy New Year.

Can I get an explanation on why Will's hair is so poofy today?

What is the deal with your hair today?

Oh, you're trying out.