A Letter to Santa

Whilst Christmas trends and rituals change over time, there will always be a constant: The letter to Santa.

I remember hours spent trawling through mum’s many catalogues looking for all those treasures I so desperately wanted.

I remember it being quite difficult trying to list all the things I really wanted whilst knowing I probably would not get any of them. For my parents, Christmas was a huge financial burden. If only they had realised that the only things I really wanted were the top two items on my list; those items which had been on my list every year for as long as I could remember. Yes; all I really wanted was a Mr. Frosty and an Astro Wars. Whilst Astro Wars has long since been forgotten, passed over in favour of more modern computer games, I have been desperately awaiting the day I look at the list of one of my children and see Mr Frosty, so I can cheerfully oblige and finally get to say “Yes, I own one!”, but sadly with eighteen parenting Christmases under my belt, I am starting to suspect this may never happen.

There is something great, though, about the last child growing old enough to write her list unaided. Christmas holds little enough wonderment and surprise once a person reaches adulthood, particularly in a home such as mine where I am solely responsible for all aspects of gift-buying, wrapping and opening... so the awe with which I approach opening Santa’s letter on his behalf cannot be understated (although when asked by baby had I read her letter, I of course had to deny! “No, sweet, it was addressed to Santa; I just left it to be collected!”)

So what of her wishes for this year? Well, I have to wonder if I’m not being tested; whether she has maybe reached the stage of doubt and decided she is going to see just how magical Santa actually is; partly because something on her list is an item of clothing belonging to a television character; partly because one item is simply “An Argos catalogue”; but mostly for the bizarre entry “A hard-hat for a boiled egg”.

Having spent many hours scouring some highly bizarre web-shops, I can find absolutely nothing that constitutes a hard hat for a boiled egg, the closest being this:



Which, whilst being very cute and everything just does not seem to be what she is asking for.

So my request for today: if anyone has a hotline to Santa, please ask him just what baby means and where I can buy it from!

Ta Muchly!