Santa letters
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- November
- 23
As a single parent, I think I always tried harder to make my son happy at Christmas.
Deep down, I wanted to compensate for the fact that his mom and I weren’t together, and whatever guilty feelings that carries as a parent. So he got extra presents and things like that. I always wanted to make his Christmas as “normal” as possible.
And we’ve always had a shared Christmas. By that I mean that his mom comes over first thing on Christmas morning. Our custody deal stipulates that my son is with me every Christmas. His mom is Jewish and was willing to allow that Christmas would always be celebrated in my home. But she has made it a point to celebrate with us, and is there first thing.
Anyway, Christmas has always been a time of plenty for my son, as it should for any kid. And I don’t necessarily want that to change entirely. But I do want him to appreciate what he has a bit more. That’s why we’re doing a different kind of Santa letter this year.
This year, he’s going to be involved in filling a Santa letter from a needy kid at the local post office, his first experience doing it. Now, we do want to make sure it’s from a child in need, not a kid who simply wants extra toys. If you’re doing this for the first time yourself, check with your post office to ensure they’re weeding out the right ones.
The way I see it, there are kids right down the street who don’t have a proper coat or shoes, let alone a toy or two. If my son has two coats, he should give one up to someone in need. Because my son isn’t the only kid who should have a “normal” a Christmas as possible.
This entry was posted
on Friday, November 23rd, 2007 at 5:08 pm by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon.
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Jorge,
What a wonderful idea! I would love to do this with my sons. Do we just seek out a family by going to our local post office?
Jorge, I also think that’s a great idea. It’s great to show your son how fortunate he is compared to some other people, and help him learn not to take what he has for granted.
Thanks. At least that is my hope. He has a big heart as it is, so it’s something of a head start.
I’m not sure what’s available in Westchester, but in Rockland we have a really great organization called People to People. They run a food pantry all year long, but have specialized programs throughout the year. They do something called “Back to School with Dignity” at the end of the summer to give underprivileged kids all the school supplies they need to get started, and they do the Santa Project in December, fulfilling the Xmas wishes of kids in hundreds of needy families throughout Rockland. And you’re sure they are families in need because they’re prescreened with the Social Service agencies. WARNING – reading the letters is heartbreaking, since many times the kids are asking for boots and warm blankets for their beds, and not the latest electronic gadget (like we’re used to reading from our own kids). I’ve been adopting families from P2P for years, and now I adopt a family in my in-laws name in lieu of a gift for them (they’re close to 80 – what do they really need?).
Doreen;
Thanks. I’m hoping to blog on Santa letters in the near future. Unfortunately, I’m having more trouble than I expected tracking one down for my son and I to fill. I’m hoping to find a Westchester organization that does what P2P does in Rockland. When – and if – I nail it down, I’ll blog on it. In the meantime, I’m finding that there are a lot of toy drives and clothes drives to help needy families. All good.