I remember as a child, listening for the bells of Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. As I lay in my bed, I recall the letter I had sent to Santa with my list of deeply desired toys and games. My thoughts stray from the task of listening for the bells as I wonder briefly whether or not my letter made it safely to Santa. Where exactly had my letter gone? I knew it was sent by magic because I had placed it carefully by the fire place for Santa's elves to pick up when they came to see if I was being Naughty or Nice, and this year, I had been very nice, even to my little sister. I was brought back to my own reality of listening for those bells by a branch tapping my window. Was that Santa's sleigh bells? No. I tell myself that I will know by the gifts I get in the morning whether or not Santa got my letter and return to intently listening for those bells. I just wish I had gotten a note from Santa saying that he had received my letter. I remember that among my friends, personalized Santa letters were the ultimate in "Christmas Cool."
When my son was four and my daughter was three years old, little Kayla brought me a piece of red construction paper upon which she had drawn pictures of what she wanted for Christmas and asked me to send it to Santa. We put it in an envelope and I printed Santa's name and "North Pole" address on the front, and habit had me writing our return address in the top left corner of this envelope. As soon as I had completed this, I remember thinking, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the return address was actually used to send personalized Santa letters back to my kids?" We carefully place the letter by the fireplace for Santa's Elves to pick up on their Naughty and Nice scouting trip. It was of course gone the next morning. My daughter woke up before me that morning, and woke me with cries of excitement as she chanted, "It's gone. The elves took it. It's gone. The elves took it" over and over again. We still had three weeks until Christmas. I was certain that her excitement for this most magical of seasons was going to do nothing but grow, and my excitement began to build as hers escalated.
A few days later, my daughter came to me and asked if she had gotten a letter from Santa yet. I was thrown. She expects a letter back! She asked almost every day if she had gotten a letter from Santa. When we would receive Christmas cards from family and friends, she assumed, because of their colorful envelopes and Christmas themed pictures, they were for her. Although we were honest with her about who the cards were from, her excitement never failed. I couldn't bear the thought of crushing her newly budding belief in magic and Christmas, so I began to look for options. To my surprise, I found a wonderful company that sends beautiful personalized Santa letters to children! Yeah!
I immediately requested a letter for my daughter and my son. Two days before Christmas, their personalized Santa letters arrived. I placed the by the fireplace for them to find, and find it she did. Kayla ran to me with her letter. "Mommy! Look! Is this one for me? Read it mommy. Read it!" It was hard to hold back my tears of joy as I took the letter from Santa from her little hands, which were trembling with excitement. I showed her the beautiful gold embossed picture of Santa on the front of the envelope surrounded by fir tree branches, heavy with ornament balls in shiny reds and silvers. I read the entire front of the envelope starting with her name and address and moving to who the letter was from, Santa Claus! I showed her the magical stamp that had brought the letter to her, and read the postmark from which it had came, The North Pole. I felt my own hands shaking as I turned the envelope over to open it and get to the wonderful treasure inside. I pulled out the letter. As I unfolded it, I looked at my daughters face. Her eyes were wide and bright. She did not take them off of the letter. Her smile lit up the room as it quivered with anticipation. Her cheeks were red, almost as if the magic of the North Pole had sent a cold gust of wind to mark them as its own. She looked the part. She looked as if her whole world was consumed by a wonderful, magical presence. I heard a tiny voice inside my head whisper, "Christmas is here". How I would have loved to get a personalized letter from Santa when I was a child, to feel this kind of excitement when magic was still possible for me to grasp.
I unfolded the letter and began to read. Santa told her of the magical things going on in his workshop. He told her that she had been very good that year and how proud he was of her. He told her how excited he and his elves were about coming to her house on Christmas Eve and how he would be keeping his eye on her for next year. Santa ended the letter by telling her that he would be sure to leave her some wonderful presents that he had picked out especially for her. Love, Santa Claus.
I stared at the letter, noticing the beautiful border and the bright colors that signal the arrival of this festive season. Lost in my own thoughts and imagination, I heard a soft, sweet voice, very close to my ear say, "Read it again mommy." And I did.
Although personalized Santa letters were not available to me as a child, what a wonderful thing that it is available now, especially with the advent of the Internet. I would not, and couldn't imagine letting one year go by without a personalized letter from Santa finding its way into my daughters Christmas loving hands. The joy I see on her face, even as she gets into her teen years, that is placed there by that one small envelope, is irreplaceable. I would trade it for...nothing.
Create Magic in your child's eyes with our Personalized Santa Letters and Santa Calls to give them the best Christmas ever. Pick over 20 Stationery designs and receive a free gift and free shipping with your Santa letters.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aaron_Y_Hu
Friday, 11 December 2009
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