If you're not religious . . .

[hmmSleep]

what do you tell your dcs about Christmas?

Dh and I are atheists. Dd (4yrs)came home from school saying she needed a blue costume for the Christmas play because she's the baby's mummy, figured this meant she was playing Mary.

Felt I should fill her in a bit on the nativity story and why people celebrate Christmas. Admittedly to date she thinks it's all about Santa, decorations and presents.

I told her that some people believe in a thing called God, that Jesus is God's son and Christmas day is Jesus' birthday. I said that her Dad and I think this is just a story, but lots of people think it's true. She then said that she thinks it's true. I told her that was up to her to decide.

Interested to hear what other people do?

I am an athiest parent too- and unlike the majority of religious people, we are trying not to brainwash and indoctrinate our children into mindlessly following our beliefs and opinions. It is with hope that our that our children will have the freedom and intelligence and knowledge to come to their conclusion about religion when they are old enough. We are honest with them and tell them there are lots of religions and beliefs. It is a fact of life that many people believe in all sorts of religions, and so we don't want to deny our children of this, we allow them to take part in religious celebrations at school, as we don't want them to feel 'different' and we want them to have an extensive knowledge of all areas of education. As we know that the whole nativity is utter nonsense, we don't feel threatened by it. As with the tooth fairy and Father Christmas, it is 'just another story'. And so we tell our children the truth. This whole Christmas thing is a story- that some people believe is true- and when they older, they can make an informed descision too. I would stop them being subjected to any indoctrination ( like my friends kids who go to a Catholic school) but I am not opposed to them learning about all the 'stories' people believe from their various religions.