for pagans, or non christians...?

LunaMystic · Yahoo User

MY MOTHER and sister have suggested we stop calling this month Christmas time. the word conjures up big problems with them. i'm ok with Christ (i love his teachings) but i do agree his birthday was not in winter! lol this i learned in church!! in bethlehem shepards did not herd sheep in winter(infact they dont do that in any country!), so the only time the sheperd could have been watching their flock by night was in the spring. the point is we dont want to celebrate his bday at this time.anyway this is a prob. in our home. kids and i call it winter solstice because that is what we will be celebrating. they are half dutch so on december 5th just like their father did as a child, they will put out their clogs on the front porch with treats for st. nicolas and carrots for his white steed. and in the morning there will be chocolate 'coins' and a gift or two in their clogs. but the whole december 25th thing.... i'm at a loss. how do you all treat this day?on the 21st we will be celebrating Yule (winter solstice) but it's the 25th that is weird. the world practically shuts down on this day. so i'm curious what other pagans or non christians do during this day. until this year i've always 'did christmas' because it was how i was raised. now it seems so silly. and i think 'why am i giving my kids hundreds of dollars of gifts in the name of Christ's bday? is this not weird??TO THE person who complained people are changing dates, the netherlands has houses older than our country, they've always celebrated st. nicolas day on the 5th. period. lol