Letters to Santa

And now for something completely different.

 Yep, it's time to send off that letter to Santa. My kids, Tess, 8, and Ella, 5, recently sat down, pen in hand, to put their Christmas morning dreams on paper. Air mail paper. With a real stamp.

Santa's continued plausibility in my household has been on shaky turf over the past year. I've written a couple of columns you might remember about Tess' belief teetering on the brink of collapse. Friends at school, works of literature, the cinema, etc., have all conspired at various times to break the spell.

And yet, she remains in the Santa camp. Is she there because she believes with a heart filled by the magic of Christmas? Or is she afraid that seasonal skepticism will abruptly halt the gravy train? Only Santa knows.

Hedging her bets, Tess has complied a very legible, and thoughtful list (above), led by the ever-popular/ever-more-expensive American Girl doll. And hey, a sled, a scooter and roller blades. I know what those are!

I like the late addition of Silly Bandz, as evidenced by a change in pens. They're banned at school, but maybe not at the North Pole.

Ella, on the other hand, remains ready to embrace Kris Kringle with wild abandon, as her letter below clearly, or I guess less than clearly, illustrates.

For the most part, the content of this correspondence likely reflects whatever toys were being advertised on TV immediately prior to press time. Her older sister appears to have ghostwritten some sections.

But the pogo stick is a new and fervent addition. She saw one at Target and wanted it desperately, on the spot. A woman walked by my wife at that moment and made a quiet aside. "There's one laying in my yard she can have." So funny and wise.

It also appears that Ella wants one of those odd/creepy Barbies with the video camera installed in her chest. Unless Santa's good sense overrides his generosity, I sense the end of privacy at my house. Look for me in embarrassing situations that will be uploaded in the near future.

She does want a Blizzard maker, which I can support.

So, dear readers, what's in your letters to Santa? It's later than you think.