His First Letter to Santa

It's an image I'll always have burned in my memory. Theo in his sweatshirt and teddy bear pajama pants, sitting under the new Christmas tree he helped Joe bring home today...closing his eyes and imagining Christmas morning, so he can figure out what he wants to ask Santa for.

It's because we are in the middle of writing a letter to Santa. We're up to the part where Theo has to say what he wants. He knows the first thing right away--he wants a lower hook to hang his coat on, since all we have is the high hooks up in the closet that are out of his reach. So he asks Santa for a hanger. After that? What else do you want? "Mmmm..I'm not sure."

What kid doesn't have a list a mile long of things he wants? My kid. And so he sat and thought for a while, and each time finally came up with something to put on his list.

While of course I prodded Theo along and kept things going, I tried to keep the letter as organic as possible, based on what he was telling me. This letter is all him.

I loved him looking over the note and correcting handwriting errors, saying things like "Santa won't be able to read that."

I want to always remember this special experience. Thank you, blog.