With pencil-crayon in hand, I sat down with my four-year-old this week to help him craft his letter to Santa. He can't write yet (except his name, which looks just about exactly like if you or I put a pen between our toes and tried to write, in another language, upside down).
So he dictated what he wanted to say, and I put it down on paper: there were a few rounds of "thank you for our presents last year," a heartwarming "please bring toys to everyone in the world" and then, of course, his specific requests (Lego and Buzz Lightyear and, oddly enough, round cookies). He also offered up a list of suggestions for his little sister who, at 18 months, will simply be happy to pull decorations off the tree and climb in boxes.
The letter is now sitting, in a stamped and addressed envelope, on our kitchen counter, awaiting delivery to our nearby Canada Post mailbox.
Like many parents, I know before the letter is even sent that "Santa" will deliver: the Buzz Lightyear is, in fact, already in the attic (my son can read about as well as he can write, so I'm not too worried about confessing this in print), and I'm fairly certain he'll forget about the round cookies when he finds a marshmallow Santa in his stocking.
It's a cozy feeling, knowing that his little four-year-old dreams about Christmas morning are already lined up to come true, and I wonder what kind of fundamental messages he's absorbing: that the world is a good place, that it's OK to hope and wish for things because sometimes you really do get them, that the holidays are a time for fun and gifts and being grateful.
My husband and I strive to be careful and thoughtful about the "treats" our children get - gifts are infrequent, Christmas is not an over-the-top frenzy of "gimme gimme," and through it all we try to foster a sense of gratitude and appreciation, rather than entitlement and greed.
We are lucky to be able to do so and, as we folded the letter and put the stamp on it, I found myself wondering how many parents out there must dread the arrival of December each year. When money is tight, there surely could be few things more discouraging than a letter to Santa that you know you simply can't fulfil for your child.
For a family facing tough financial times, a toy may not be a "need" like rent, food or the electric bill, but it's a "need" nonetheless for children who, like my son, are absorbing fundamental messages about their world, too.
The Burnaby Christmas Bureau is in the final weeks of its 2011 campaign, and there's still a long way to go for both financial and toy donations. They do the best they can to step in for "Santa" when its needed - but they can't do it without a lot of help. Let's not let any letters to Santa go unanswered this year.
Learn more about the bureau at http: //burnabycommun ityconnections.com.
