My mother still has a letter my brother wrote to Santa when he and I were just children.
Lanny was about 6 and I was 3. He handled the writing, though apparently did bother to ask me what I wanted, too.
The letter goes something like this:
“Dear Santa,
I’ve been a good boy. I want a truck and a new bike. My sister has been good, too. She wants a doll. We will leave you milk and cookies.
Love, Lanny and Leada”
We gave our letter to Santa when we visited him at Century Plaza in Birmingham. He gave us a candy cane and everyone was happy.
Apparently, our letter was effective. Santa gave us the toys we asked for and in return, he enjoyed the cookies and milk we left by the fireplace.
Ahh…if things were only that simple now.
Now, kids don’t just write a letter to Santa. They write, text, video chat and film their wishes. Then, they present it to him at one of the 1,000 locations Santa seems to hang out at these days.
I saw this first hand several weeks ago when a little friend of ours had a chance to sit on Santa’s knee. When asked what she wanted, she pulled out her I-Pod and showed him a virtual list she’d made.
Santa didn’t miss a beat. He looked at her list, pulled out his Blackberry and made a couple of notations, and sent her off with a real – not virtual, thankfully – piece of candy.
Sutton is not immune to this change, either. Santa recently sent her a video message via email. In it, he says he knows she’s 3 (“But I’m 3-and-a-half, Mom!” she declared) and said he knows she’s been good this year.
He said he knew she’d had a big birthday party and declared he hardly recognized her in her Halloween costume. Then, he said he’d received her request for “everything.” (That’s right – she asked for “everything,” when she sat on Santa’s lap.)
Sutton loved her video message but was concerned perhaps Santa didn’t understand the meaning of “everything.”
“Mom,” she said, “Does Santa know I want a Pillow Pet?
“I’m sure he does,” I replied. “Santa knows everything.”
And that’s when she revealed herself to be a true child of her generation.
“I will just text him,” she said.
LOL. Ho Ho Ho.