It’s done. My daughter’s annual letter to Santa Claus is complete. Not exactly a big deal in most households, but it was a major milestone in our family as this is the first year that my daughter’s note to Jolly Old St. Nicholas actually included words… written by someone other than me.
What a difference a year makes. Instead of drawing pictures of the Christmas gifts she desired, this year my 4-year-old hand wrote her entire letter to the guy in the red suit. She even addressed the envelope: Santa, North Pole! (Parents with older children feel free to roll your eyes here.)
Of course, my pride was tempered with slight melancholy as I wondered how long it would be before my innocent child would be addressing the letter to Mom and Dad, rather than Santa. But I digress.
As a proud parent often does I shared the news of my daughter’s accomplishment with my best friend, who has an 8-year-old son.
“Did Cody finish his letter to Santa yet? “ I asked my pal.
“Yeah,” my friend responded wryly. “And when he was done he asked me for Santa’s email address.”
What a difference a generation makes.
In this modern world of emails, Blackberries, text messages, fax machines, and other mobile devices, you have to wonder how long it will be before the traditional paper letter to Santa is replaced by jpegs, PDFs and instant messages.
You needn’t wonder for long. After hanging up with my friend I did some research and found that there is an actual website devoted to Santa emails. The site not only allows you to communicate electronically with the rotund gift giver, you can also learn some reindeer jokes, check Santa’s “nice” list, view Santa’s photo album and play Christmas video games. Heck, your pet can even send a note to Rudolph and receive a reply “as fast as reindeer fly.”
How would Linus respond to that?
I’ve decided not to visit the website with my daughter. Rather, in a few hours we will drive to our local post office and she will get the chance to place her handwritten (in crayon no less) letter to Santa in a cardboard replica of the Claus’ brick home (courtesy of the clever folks at the USPS). Then, we’ll go home and she’ll spend the next few weeks practicing her patience (what a concept) while we wait for Santa’s typed reply.
Ho, ho, ho!
How do your kids communicate with Santa?
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