It could be said that since it was the birth of a baby as a gift to

the shopping and preparation during the Christmas season is really for the

benefit of children.

From a financial perspective, the extensive shopping done at Christmas is

really of benefit to businesses. But what really drives the maddening shopping

activity is a desire by parents, relatives, friends and acquaintances to play

Santa Claus, mainly for children. Within families, children are usually the ones

who individually receive the most gifts. And it's deservedly so because their

wide-eyed anticipation, excitement and pure joy when they open their Christmas

presents gives everyone an indescribably happy feeling.

Along with playing Santa Claus and secretly getting gifts for children,

adults also use the Santa story for all it's worth as an effective means of

discipline. As soon as the Fall season approaches, children will begin to hear

warnings about their behavior and the consequence of Santa Claus not leaving any

toys or presents like the wonderful ones they received in the prior year. And

when the Santa Claus story is not being used to help to get the best behavior

from children, it is simply pure fun to delight them by telling them stories

about Santa Claus, his elves and reindeers to simply enliven their imagination.

The story of Santa Claus is even useful for older children who may just be

starting to unravel the mystery of Santa Claus. The stories that tell of

different places where Santa Claus actually lives can be a starting point to go

on an imaginative journey around the globe and become a geography lesson to

learn about those places.

Children are also central to Christmas because the many grand displays of

Christmas scenery, colorful lights and sparkling ornaments really target the

attention of children. So, if children were not so important at Christmas time,

then it is quite possible that many of the traditions that make Christmas what

it is would not exist. As an example, Valentine's Day and holidays related to

Easter have a much different mood and atmosphere. Children aren't the focus in

celebrations for those special periods.

Christmas is also an important period for the toy industry whose clients

are naturally children. Although the industry is part of the big retail picture

and therefore seeks to boost sales during the Christmas season, there is also a

deeper meaning for children. Toys are important to entertain, to educate, to

help children develop their imagination and to develop coordination and other

skills in children. Toys can also help children to play together and learn to

share.

The toy industry is therefore important at Christmas time in introducing new

products that are integral to the development of children. When children become

totally captivated by a new toy at Christmas time, it may help them to learn a

new skill or provide new knowledge all in a fun and captivating way that will

make it more likely that whatever is learned will be remembered.

Children are also the focus of Christmas celebrations because it is

important to create fond childhood memories of the season. These memories are

created not by children necessarily receiving a lot, but by enjoying everything

about the season. The story of Jesus with the moral of sharing, giving and doing

kind deeds for others can also help to build a good character and set a moral

foundation that teaches children to have empathy and compassion during the

Christmas season and all throughout the year.

The idea of celebrating Jesus' birth was done to counteract pagan holidays

such as Midnight Mass and primarily in the many forms of the Nativity, or

Christmas Story, presented wherever people celebrate Christmas.

That story started in Nazareth in Galilee about two thousand years ago.

Mary, a young woman, was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. An angel appeared

to her one day and told her she was with child. She couldn't understand how that

could happen because due to her circumspect nature, she had not laid in bed with

Joseph. The angel explained however, that the child would be special as he would

be the Son of God and his name was to be Jesus. Mary and Joseph then got married

soon after the angel's appearance.. But about the time when Mary was to have the

baby, the couple had to travel far away to Bethlehem, Joseph's birthplace, to

pay a special tax.

It was difficult for them to find a place to stay because many other

people were in Bethlehem to pay their taxes. After many rejections, one

innkeeper offered a room in his stable where they could spend the night. That's

where Jesus, the Holy Child and Son of God was born and then wrapped in bundles

of cloth and placed in a manger for a cradle.

In the same hours that Mary was giving birth, shepherds who were in a

field that overlooked Bethlehem saw an extremely bright star over the sky in

Bethlehem. They had never seen anything like it and had feelings of curiosity

and scariness. An angel appeared and told them the 'good news' that the Son of

God had been born in Bethlehem.

The shepherds left their flocks to go to Bethlehem to find the baby. When

they reached the stable, they were filled with immense joy at seeing Jesus. They

fell to their knees and worshipped Him. They also told Mary and Joseph about the

bright star and the angel appearing to say Jesus would be the Savior of the

world.

The bright star was also seen by Wise Men in the east. The Wise Men, who

studied the stars, learned that a new and great ruler would appear whenever an

extraordinarily bright star appeared in the sky. Three of them therefore set out

to find the new ruler. They first visited King Herod in Jerusalem because they

thought the child would be born in the palace. But when they asked to see the

child who would be the new ruler, King Herod was very worried as he thought he

would be removed from the throne. King Herod told the Wise Men that when they

found the baby, they should return and tell him so that he could also worship

the baby.

The Wise Men used the star as a guide to go to Bethlehem where they found Mary,

Joseph and Baby Jesus who they worshipped and offered gifts of gold,

frankincense and myrrh. The Wise Men are celebrated in some Christmas

celebrations on Jan. 6, known as the Epiphany to mark the date when they found

Jesus. Later in the night the three Wise Men had a dream in which an angel told

them that King Herod wanted to kill Baby Jesus. They left Bethlehem to return to

the East but didn't return to Jerusalem to tell King Herod where they had found

the child. Joseph also had a dream soon after the Wise Men left in which an

angel appeared and told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because Herod had

ordered that Jesus be killed. In an effort to kill Jesus after the Wise Men did

not return to inform him of the baby's whereabouts, Herod later ordered that all

baby boys in Bethlehem should be killed. But by then Mary and Joseph had left