Arrgghhh - Christmas - I hate it!

I really do you know! I hate the commercialisation and consumerism that seem to engulf the season, I hate giving gifts to people just because you have to, I don't believe in the religious meaning behind it, I don't know what to teach my kids in an attempt to keep them from getting caught up in the whole "Santa + Gifts" hype.

I'm going to tell (and already have) the Saint Nicholas story to explain who Santa is, but I still can't help but wonder how on earth I "do" Christmas with the girls....

So far I have it in mind like so:

• Christmas is a time to show the people we care about just how much we love them, and we often give people meaningful gifts to show them, but there are other ways of showing our feelings.
  
• Santa is a tribute to the real St Nicholas and gives gifts to the needy people in the world.
• Some people get a little too caught up in giving gifts that they don't necessarily think about what they are doing or giving and it can cause a lot of heartache for both giver and receiver.
• We will give a small gift to each member of our immediate family in addition to setting some new Christmas traditions that involve showing how much we care about each other.... not sure what yet though!

BUT I am struggling with the notion of Santa in our lives - so we tell the girls that he brings gifts to all kids now rather than just the needy ones, or do we stick with the truth and not even do Santa at all? And if we don't, do we then tell the girls that everyone else's parents are making up a story?

I think that's enough mental gymnastics for now! I'll be back once I've worked out what we'll do this year!