Easter Bunnies, Santa Claus tooth fairy ect...

I didn't want my child to believe in any of these things. It takes away from the true meaning of the holiday and you are lying to your kid. I just don't like it. My husband and I both come from families that go all out for santa and easter bunny ect. So right away Bryn was exposed to these ideas. Then she sees them in malls cartoons her tablet, and I run a daycare and the kids talk non stop about these characters. So naturally she fully believes and knows all about them! I tell her its just for fun and the real reason we celebrate is for Jesus, she has yet to lose teeth, and so far she is accepting things as this and hasn't questioned anymore.

Along comes the season for Elves on the shelf. All of my daycare families have elves.... and all the kids talk about it. So we got her the Shepherd! Its been such a blessing! She gets to participate in the fun and yet he focuses her on Jesus and teachings of that nature. I tried staying away from "Sheppy is magic" ect. But of course she has heard all about that too and fully believes in his magic. She loves Sheppy. From Christmas to Easter she has mentioned him dozens of times. After Easter now she has cried twice because she misses him. Its really helped bridge that gap! We still don't mention santa or bunny, but Sheppy takes center stage and she doesn't remember that we didn't mention him. It really helps us to bring the focus back to Jesus. Of course when the daycare parents or grandparents ask if the Easter Bunny or Santa came she always says yes and gives them the credit for everything. I decided I am not going to burst her bubble. I am going to just keep down playing things and saying its just for fun and she'll grow up and figure out that I never ever said they are real. Maybe she'll have more questions maybe she won't. I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we get there.