SHHHH!...Santa Letter's

Each year my good friend Millie and I send letters to children across our area from Santa.  We started it 5 years ago as  band fundraiser and though our sons have graduated and moved to different colleges, we still continue the tradition for our local high school band and an additional local non-profit organization.  They get the message out that there are a couple of elves who will send personalized Santa letters with the official North Pole cancellation to "your child" for a donation and a little bit of information.  We have always had a pretty good response, but this year there was an avalanche of requests.

Unlike the commercial Santa letters, we do not ask or comment on any particular wants from the Christmas lists.  Instead we ask for a few successes each child has experienced during the year as well as what needs a little tweaking.  Those things are couched in a sweet little note about the elves, reindeer and of course the Claus family.

I thought today I might share a few of the successes and problem areas from the past few years.
One little fellow is now wearing clothes regularly. We have numerous children who are learning to go to the potty.  Several little people are learning their colors, letters and numbers.  Many of the kids are making excellent grades and are involved in everything from sports, gymnastics, cheerleading and scouts to music lessons, dance lesson, and learning foreign languages. ( Special thumbs up to one little fellow who is learning Chinese characters this year and a guy from a couple of years back who had mastered Czech)
Perhaps the nicest things we see are the words "she is kind to everyone" "he is a great helper and has a tender heart" "she makes everyone around her smile" "he tries to make everyone feel included".  Great job parents!

The "needs to work on" list is the funniest most of the time.  We do have the usual request for Santa to say something about nap time, whining, being a nicer brother/sister, sharing, using good manners, listening to mommy and daddy the FIRST time they say something, but we also see some original things that need a little adjusting.  A couple of years ago Santa had to tell one little boy that he had to wear underwear to school-every day!  One little angel need to quit acting like a cat when she meets people.  Another girl needs to quit throwing her spoons and forks at meal time  and several need to tone down the sass.

For the record, though we have request each and every year for Santa to say something about bed wetting, Santa does NOT scold an immature bladder.  If your child wets the bed it is not because he/she wants to or is too lazy to get up.  It is because their bladder is somewhat immature and they don't get "the signal" like everyone else.  Don't worry they will outgrow it.  In the meantime either get up and change their sheets or buy Pull-ups.

Hope you have enjoyed this little window into my yearly Christmas tradition.  Now as we speak about 400 letters are on their way to the North Pole remailing station.  A special thanks to some of the mothers who video their little ones reading their letters then tagging us with it.  The bright eyes and ear to ear grins make 2 days of chaos well worth it.

Oh and for the record, this year Santa had to explain why it is not a great idea to get a seahorse as a pet!
I LOVE SANTA LETTER WEEK!