My wife and I were watching a movie a few nights ago, when a teacher asked a group of elementary school students to give one word describing the “spirit” of Christmas. “Joy” was written on the chalkboard, as was “giving.”

I was begging for someone to shout “Jesus,” but it didn’t happen. The last kid said “Santa,” the teacher smiled and told him “good answer,” and the scene ended.

That kind of summarizes America’s view of religious-themed holidays. We celebrate bunny rabbits at Easter, turkeys at Thanksgiving, and materialism at Christmas.

I’ve never been to a birthday party where the cake, cards and napkins all have the wrong name on them, but I bet it’s something like Christmas.

Sometimes as a Christian parent, it’s tempting to just give up and join in the what-am-I-getting-this-year bash, but we shouldn’t. With a little determination, it really is possible to keep “Christ” at the center of Christmas. Here are three suggestions:

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