Letters to Santa

by Anne

Dear Santa,
How are you? How are the reindeer?
This Christmas I would like a giant pack of Pokemon cards.
Could you also bring a toy to a little child who does not have lots of toys?
Thank you, biggirl.

We wrote and sent our letters to Santa today, and in the spirit of teaching my girls about giving I encouraged them to ask for two other children as well. It is a heady idea for our little ones, the fact that there are families out there who struggle to make ends meet. Families who have so very little when we have so very much. But they need to learn because this is the world that they will inherit and they have to find a way to change it.

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I am not a Merry Christmas ho ho ho type of gal.

gee. (Bet you were surprised.)

My history with Christmas is…. sigh…what else is new…. complicated.
Family stuff you know. Alcohol, extramarital affairs. Etcetera. I am totally Grinchy-poo when it comes to this season of giving. I resent having to buy gifts for people because the holiday says we must. I hate the irony of so many hungry and homeless and sad and lonely, and here we all are gaily jingle belling along. That said, I of course love giving to my children and my husband. I love the smell of the tree. I love the time off as we all get to sit around and play, read, talk and of course eat. I love Christmas lights. I love it when it is snowing.

And there are some magical Christmas moments, I am not all doom and gloom.
When I was little, we would leave out cookies and milk for the Jolly Old Man, and carrots for the reindeer. And in the morning there would be nothing left….maybe some crumbs. And, a letter of thanks would be left from Santa. I loved those letters, the best ones had been written by my brother as he ate the cookies, drank the milk and crunched the carrots after I had gone to bed.

So one tradition I have brought to this house is the snack for Santa. And every year he leaves his note of thanks to my girls for the little meal. Last year he even left a ‘bootprint’ on his letter, made by Mr. Crazymumma from the soot in our fireplace and an old workboot. And this year the letter from Santa will also tell them that he brought two toys to two other children. It is a new tradition for our family and I hope that the girls learn the joy of giving and not just receiving. I hope that they learn how blessed they are to have parents who love them beyond comprehension. A warm home, full tummies, toys, and laughter.

Happy Season to everyone. May your holidays, however you celebrate them, be filled with joy and laughter.

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Anne is a self-described obsessive, fairly high strung 40-something, rock and roll wannabe, art making, grilled cheese mummy queen. Born and raised in Toronto, married with two children. Been through hell and back, and lives to tell the tale.