{"id":15769,"date":"2016-07-18T09:35:54","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T14:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/?p=15769"},"modified":"2023-12-20T00:31:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T06:31:43","slug":"mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/","title":{"rendered":"Telling Children the Truth about Santa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Monday<\/p>\n

Question:<\/h2>\n

Do you tell your children about Santa Claus?<\/strong> Why or why not?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/h2>\n

This week’s question is one that has been posed to us often<\/strong> over the years — especially back when all our children were little. Do we tell our kids about Santa?<\/p>\n

The answer is yes and no.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Teaching<\/p>\n

If by “telling” you mean, have we made our children aware of all the Santa hype that surrounds the Christmas season, then we’d have to respond affirmatively. We’ve had many discussions about such things.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although Santa has never been our primary focus at Christmas, our kids are familiar with him and his backstory. For a child to grow to adulthood without ever hearing about Santa Claus would mean he’d been very sheltered indeed. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Telling<\/p>\n

So our children have watched movies like Elf<\/a>. They have memorized poems such as The Night Before Christmas<\/a>. And they’ve worn red velvet caps<\/a> to ring the bell for Salvation Army. A few of the braver ones have even been photographed sitting in Santa’s lap.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bell<\/p>\n

We have enjoyed all these things <\/strong>in much the same way that we’ve enjoyed watching Beauty and the Beast<\/a>. Or reading The Lord of the Rings<\/a>. Or dressing up in Star Wars costumes<\/a>. It’s fun, but everyone knows it’s all make-believe.<\/p>\n

\"Star<\/p>\n

However, if by “telling your kids about Santa Claus” you mean, have we led them to believe that Santa Claus delivers their presents or spies on them in their sleep, the answer is no. We have never taught them that<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our family views Santa in much the same way as we view evolution.<\/strong> To be completely unfamiliar with either of those topics is to be culturally illiterate.<\/p>\n

Separating Fact from Fiction<\/h2>\n

So we discuss these matters, being careful to always and only teach our children the truth. And that’s the case whether we’re talking about Santa, evolution, God, biology, or any other topic.<\/p>\n

FACT: There really was a Christian bishop by the name of Saint Nicholas<\/strong> who lived in the fourth century and was known for his generosity toward the poor. (Likewise, a species really can change and adapt to its environment — a process known as micro-evolution.)<\/p>\n

FACT: Saint Nicholas was persecuted for his faith. He was even imprisoned by the Roman emperor Diocletian for refusing to deny Jesus as God. <\/strong>(By the same token, Charles Darwin spent five years aboard the ship HMS Beagle<\/em> as their Naturalist before writing Origin of the Species<\/a>).<\/p>\n

FACT: St. Nick does not circumvent the globe on Christmas Eve in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer<\/strong>. (Nor does one species magically turn into another. Fish will never grow feet and fur and start swinging from trees, no matter how many millions and billions of years you give them to do so).<\/p>\n

FACT: Santa doesn’t keep tabs on whether you’ve been bad or good<\/strong> — but God does<\/a>. (In the same way, man and monkeys share certain similarities not because they have a common evolutionary ancestor, but because they have a common Creator<\/a>).<\/p>\n

We think there’s a place for fantasy and fiction and fun and games, but we take care to only present them as such. We value our children’s trust and never wish to abuse it. Childlike faith is a precious thing, and we wouldn’t want to see it misplaced. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We want our children to know that the things we teach them as TRUTH, we believe with all our hearts, and that we would never knowingly deceive them about anything.<\/strong> In our opinion, no Christmas tradition is worth calling that fact into question.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts? How have you handled the Santa Claus question in your family?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Glad<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Teaching<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Do you tell your children about Santa Claus? Why or why not? Answer: This week’s question is one that has been posed to us often over the years —…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[918,82,10],"tags":[1514],"class_list":["post-15769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","category-holidays-2","category-mailbag","tag-keeping-christ-in-christmas"],"yoast_head":"\nTelling Children the Truth about Santa - Flanders Family Home Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We're often asked whether we tell our children about Santa. The answer is yes and no. Our kids know about St. Nicholas, but only what's true.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Telling Children the Truth about Santa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We're often asked whether we tell our children about Santa. The answer is yes and no. Our kids know about St. Nicholas, but only what's true.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Flanders Family Home Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFlandersFamily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-18T14:35:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-20T06:31:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa-1024x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Flanders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@flanders_family\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@flanders_family\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Flanders\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jennifer Flanders\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/157318f68a80642394f42d642d87f77b\"},\"headline\":\"Telling Children the Truth about Santa\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-18T14:35:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-20T06:31:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":627,\"commentCount\":8,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"keeping Christ in Christmas\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Christmas\",\"Holidays\",\"Mailbag\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/\",\"name\":\"Telling Children the Truth about Santa - Flanders Family Home Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-18T14:35:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-20T06:31:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"We're often asked whether we tell our children about Santa. The answer is yes and no. Our kids know about St. Nicholas, but only what's true.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"Teaching Children the Truth about Santa\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/2016\\\/07\\\/18\\\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Telling Children the Truth about Santa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/\",\"name\":\"Flanders Family Home Life\",\"description\":\"Living, Loving, & Learning Together\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Flanders Family Home Life\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/BB-Square-FF-Home-Life.png?fit=782%2C782&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/BB-Square-FF-Home-Life.png?fit=782%2C782&ssl=1\",\"width\":782,\"height\":782,\"caption\":\"Flanders Family Home Life\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TheFlandersFamily\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/flanders_family\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/flanders_family\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/flandersfamily\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/157318f68a80642394f42d642d87f77b\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Flanders\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eccb28adb5c68bff81b70eeb7ddbbf847d830fd01618041ff37667bb743de965?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eccb28adb5c68bff81b70eeb7ddbbf847d830fd01618041ff37667bb743de965?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eccb28adb5c68bff81b70eeb7ddbbf847d830fd01618041ff37667bb743de965?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer Flanders\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flandersfamily.info\\\/web\\\/author\\\/flanders\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Telling Children the Truth about Santa - Flanders Family Home Life","description":"We're often asked whether we tell our children about Santa. The answer is yes and no. Our kids know about St. Nicholas, but only what's true.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Telling Children the Truth about Santa","og_description":"We're often asked whether we tell our children about Santa. The answer is yes and no. Our kids know about St. Nicholas, but only what's true.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/","og_site_name":"Flanders Family Home Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFlandersFamily","article_published_time":"2016-07-18T14:35:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-20T06:31:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa-1024x1024.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jennifer Flanders","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@flanders_family","twitter_site":"@flanders_family","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Flanders","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/"},"author":{"name":"Jennifer Flanders","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/157318f68a80642394f42d642d87f77b"},"headline":"Telling Children the Truth about Santa","datePublished":"2016-07-18T14:35:54+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-20T06:31:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/"},"wordCount":627,"commentCount":8,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","keywords":["keeping Christ in Christmas"],"articleSection":["Christmas","Holidays","Mailbag"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/","name":"Telling Children the Truth about Santa - Flanders Family Home Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","datePublished":"2016-07-18T14:35:54+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-20T06:31:43+00:00","description":"We're often asked whether we tell our children about Santa. The answer is yes and no. Our kids know about St. Nicholas, but only what's true.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","width":1024,"height":1024,"caption":"Teaching Children the Truth about Santa"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/07\/18\/mailbag-what-do-you-tell-your-kids-about-santa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Telling Children the Truth about Santa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/","name":"Flanders Family Home Life","description":"Living, Loving, & Learning Together","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#organization","name":"Flanders Family Home Life","url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/BB-Square-FF-Home-Life.png?fit=782%2C782&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/BB-Square-FF-Home-Life.png?fit=782%2C782&ssl=1","width":782,"height":782,"caption":"Flanders Family Home Life"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFlandersFamily","https:\/\/x.com\/flanders_family","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/flanders_family\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/flandersfamily\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/157318f68a80642394f42d642d87f77b","name":"Jennifer Flanders","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccb28adb5c68bff81b70eeb7ddbbf847d830fd01618041ff37667bb743de965?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccb28adb5c68bff81b70eeb7ddbbf847d830fd01618041ff37667bb743de965?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccb28adb5c68bff81b70eeb7ddbbf847d830fd01618041ff37667bb743de965?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Jennifer Flanders"},"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/author\/flanders\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Teaching-Children-about-Santa.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2G72Y-46l","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13292,"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2015\/11\/30\/mailbag-how-do-you-handle-gift-giving\/","url_meta":{"origin":15769,"position":0},"title":"Large Family Gift Giving","author":"Jennifer Flanders","date":"November 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My inbox is backed up, so I've been using Mondays to respond to readers' questions. This week, my Mailbag Monday column deals with large family gift giving. Keep reading to see how our family handles this important tradition at Christmas time. Question: Hi, Jennifer. What do you all do for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/category\/holidays-2\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Large Family Christmas: What do you do about gifts?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Christmas-Stockings-3.png?fit=600%2C386&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Christmas-Stockings-3.png?fit=600%2C386&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Christmas-Stockings-3.png?fit=600%2C386&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6394,"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2013\/12\/14\/bell-ringing-for-the-salvation-army\/","url_meta":{"origin":15769,"position":1},"title":"Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army","author":"Jennifer Flanders","date":"December 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of our family's favorite Christmas traditions is bell-ringing for the Salvation Army. Every December (with the exception of that year we had the chicken pox), we pull out our Santa hats, bundle up warm, and head over to the mall to man the red kettle for an hour or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/category\/holidays-2\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bell Ringing 2016","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Bell-Ringing-2016.png?fit=1024%2C961&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Bell-Ringing-2016.png?fit=1024%2C961&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Bell-Ringing-2016.png?fit=1024%2C961&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Bell-Ringing-2016.png?fit=1024%2C961&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17129,"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2016\/12\/06\/who-wore-it-best-free-printable-christmas-game\/","url_meta":{"origin":15769,"position":2},"title":"Who Wore It Best? Christmas Party Game","author":"Jennifer Flanders","date":"December 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We are making slow progress on unpacking boxes from our recent move. Today's project: Organize the closets. I need to sort through the clothes, cull the stuff that's outgrown, and switch out summer shorts for winter sweaters, as cooler temps have finally come to Texas (at least for the moment).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/category\/holidays-2\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Who Wore It Best Game","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Who-Wore-It-Best-Game.png?fit=1024%2C1017&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Who-Wore-It-Best-Game.png?fit=1024%2C1017&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Who-Wore-It-Best-Game.png?fit=1024%2C1017&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Who-Wore-It-Best-Game.png?fit=1024%2C1017&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21975,"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2018\/12\/10\/mailbag-christmas-bingo-cards\/","url_meta":{"origin":15769,"position":3},"title":"Christmas Travel Bingo Cards (Free Printable)","author":"Jennifer Flanders","date":"December 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you make more Christmas bingo cards? I am looking for a way in which the \"Christmas Travel Bingo\" can be 10 versions of it. When I click on it to print, it only has 4 versions for it. Is there a way for it to be 10 different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/category\/holidays-2\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Travel Bingo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Christmas-Travel-Bingo.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Christmas-Travel-Bingo.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Christmas-Travel-Bingo.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Christmas-Travel-Bingo.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13631,"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2015\/12\/21\/mailbag-better-late-than-never\/","url_meta":{"origin":15769,"position":4},"title":"Mailbag: Better Late than Never!","author":"Jennifer Flanders","date":"December 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I use Mondays to clear out my inbox. Questions of general interest, I post on the blog. It may take me awhile to answer, but better late than never! Question: Why's your Christmas letter late? Dear Doug and Jennifer, We've been waiting and waiting. Where's the Flanders Family update? Are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mailbag"","block_context":{"text":"Mailbag","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/category\/mailbag\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Better Late than Never","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Better-Late-than-Never.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Better-Late-than-Never.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Better-Late-than-Never.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Better-Late-than-Never.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Better-Late-than-Never.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19795,"url":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2021\/12\/04\/reindeer-poop-bag-toppers\/","url_meta":{"origin":15769,"position":5},"title":"Reindeer Poop Bag Toppers","author":"Jennifer Flanders","date":"December 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I'm sharing something that is admittedly super silly: Just feast your eyes upon these free printable \"Reindeer Poop\" bag toppers. \ud83d\ude02 I have several of kids and grandkids who love Raisinets, so I slip a package of these sweeties in their Christmas stockings every year. The Raisinets provide a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/category\/holidays-2\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reindeer Poop Poem Bag Topper","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Reindeer-Poop-Poem-Bag-Topper-IG.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Reindeer-Poop-Poem-Bag-Topper-IG.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Reindeer-Poop-Poem-Bag-Topper-IG.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Reindeer-Poop-Poem-Bag-Topper-IG.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15769"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82092,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15769\/revisions\/82092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}