My wife found a cute template where the kids could just fill in the blanks. It was something along the line of "dear santa, this year i have been _________.
I would really like you to bring me ___________. It would also ve really awesome if i got ____________. You should also bring a _________ for _________."

And then it had a little thing at the bottom where the kids could draw a picture of what they wanted.

We allowed them to ask for one toy from santa. The secondary thing was candy or a smaller stocking stuffer. The third spot was to ask santa to bring something to someone they love.

My daughter who is 4 skirted the rules a bit on the last one and asked santa to bring "a big bag of chocolates for my sister and me." But when we asked, she explained that she likes sharing with her baby sister, so she wanted to have something she could share.

My son (7 years old) asked for small things this year (thank goodness). But he wrote a question mark on the last one, and said he didnt know what to write. I pressed him a bit, asking him if he wanted santa to bring mommy.... Or Emma or Addy.... If they wanted anything. He smiled and loudly said "A new gun for dad!" And hugged me. I laughed, hugged him, and gave him a high five.

Mom gave me a bit of a glare, but smiled and told him it was a good idea.

Its stupid little things like this - watching my wife help lur daughter write to santa, talking about sharing and watching my son write his own letter (with very little help!) And to be reminded how much he knows me and loves me.

Theyre good kids. Even with all the frustrations they cause and messes they make, its these little things that i can see and learn from if i just stop and watch, and listen. They are my greatest teachers.

My wife loves christmas, and all of December is Christmas to her. So happy 1st day of Christmas, everyone. Thank you for making this forum fantastic, and entertaining my sappy happy moment of the day.

That was great. I hope that everyone at the PorterN house has a wonderful 1st and all the rest days of Christmas!

It was a cute story.


ARman