If you are reading this chances are you have small children in your life. And if that’s the case you probably have been questioned about what Santa Claus does the rest of the year. You may have been asked about Rudolph and the other reindeer. In fact, kids sometimes wonder why they can only write letters to Santa during the holiday season.
When you think about it, that does make sense. Why can’t kids write letters to Santa Claus year round?
As a parent you might appreciate the fact that during the holiday season kids seem to have a desire to ‘be good’. This is because Santa Claus will be coming to town and most children have grown up believing that only kids that behave themselves will receive the gifts they want for Christmas.
This topic recently came up with my four year old granddaughter. She wanted to know what Rudolph and Santa do when the holiday season is over. After a discussion about the type of lifestyle these characters live she wanted to know if she could write them a letter to let them know what she has been doing since Christmas.
Of course I said yes. Madilynn (my granddaughter) then proceeded to spend 45 minutes making her letters. We used our trusty craft box supplies. To my surprise Madilynn seemed to have as much fun writing about her adventures at school and other stories as she did when she prepared her Christmas letters to Santa and Rudolph.
Now she wants to write them more often. According to her it is okay if they don’t answer her until Christmas time. Madilynn seems to think that because she is writing these letters more often she will surely be remembered by Santa.
I have to admit, my daughter-in-law and son were not so enthusiastic about the idea of year round letters to Santa. They expressed concerns about taking away from the uniqueness that the Santa letter-writing project adds to the holiday season.
You see, at my house we have always planned an evening around preparing the Santa letters and doing other easy Christmas crafts. I always prepare some special treats and it becomes a family event. Everyone gets involved – even the older kids and some adults. We just make this one of our holiday get togethers that turns out to be fun for everyone.
So now I am concerned that I made a mistake by encouraging the year round Santa letters. What do you think?
I plan to tell Madilynn that we will only write letters to Santa and Rudolph when something really important happens. And instead of using the time to write letters to them I will encourage her to spend the time writing letters to her granny that lives in another state. After all, she can share the same sort of stories and pictures with her granny as she would with Santa. And her granny will truly appreciate the letters. Besides that, Madilynn’s letters to her granny will not go unanswered so in the end I think she will have even more fun with the project.
I think that will keep everyone happy and it will keep the specialness of the Santa writing tradition alive.
