Dear Santa...

On Saturday, Megan and I were shopping downtown between ballet performances (more on that later!) We went into Macy's where they were sponsoring a fundraiser. For every letter to Santa that customers wrote, they would donate a dollar to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Now, some parents just love making Christmas magical for their children, flitting around buying wonderful gifts from Santa (did I just say "flitting"? Is that even a word?) They hoist their kids on Santa's lap, posing them for the obligatory "scared-of-the-stranger-whose-lap-I'm-sitting-on" picture. (I mean really...what other time of the year, would we ever encourage our children to sit on the lap of a man we have never met and know nothing about?) They write letters, hide presents, and tell tales....

...yea, we're not those parents.

It's not that we have some strong aversion to lying to our kids, or some legalistic view of what Christmas should look like. We just don't think Santa should get all the credit for the good gifts! We treat Santa kind of like Mickey Mouse, it's fun to talk about him, etc, but come Christmas, it's Mom and Dad who spent the hard-earned money and time for the gifts.

Well, anyway...we're all about charity, especially Make-A-Wish who blessed my niece with a nice wish last year. So I encouraged Megan to write a letter. This is what she wrote:

"Dear Santa, I want a Webkinz...Tinker Bell movie....etc...etc...etc...
Sincerely,
Megan Holsinger
P.S. I like Jesus better than you, but have a merry Christmas anyway."