Here is my Christmas story for 2024! I hope you enjoy!
-C.M.
Dear Johnny,
I did not get you the new VR gaming system you asked for, nor the game “Alien Blood Bath”. I am not sure how you expect to get such things when you have smashed the coffee cup you made your mother in first grade to get back at her for not letting you get a pet snake. When you sprawled out in the middle of the dentist's office and refused to get in the chair because you don’t like the way Novocain feels. When you have refused to do every bit of homework, every quiz, and every report in the last three months.
But I know that not everything is as it seems. I know you broke the cup because your mother never once used it. I know you thew a fit in the dentist's office because your father made you give up hockey so he wouldn’t have to get up that early. And I know you refuse work because the words have become too blurry for you to read.
So, this is what I did get you:
The school nurse has been hit with the realization that she should test your eyes. I have given your teammate Eric the courage to ask his dad to take you to practice. (Remember him? He set you up with your one and only goal and sat next to you that time your dad let you go out for pizza with the team. He is worried about you.) In your stocking is a new toothbrush, a healthy breakfast, and the socks you so desperately need but won’t ask for.
I don’t actually have a naughty list— that is something parents made up. What I do have is a needy list. A list of children who need things more than toys. The miracles I work for them don’t seem like gifts but I save all my best magic for them. Speaking of which, your parents are getting audited by the IRS next year. This will look bad, but don’t worry. It means your dad will stop his shenanigans before he does anything that could take him to jail and your mom will have to tighten the budget. No more nights out and babysitters, no more retail therapy. All they will be able to do is stay home and play board games with you— and they will because I have given you a board game every year for the last four years. They are unopened and sitting on the top shelf of the hall closet.
Sometimes it feels like no one cares, but I am always here, watching. This year will have its challenges, but with the tools I have gifted you, I know you can make me proud. In the future, when your feet are settled and your heart is full, I may call upon you to help me with a child on the needy list. So, if sometimes you feel a tug inside of you, a little pull to reach out and help, know that is me guiding you. You are part of the magic because, like me, you understand what it’s like to be on the needy list.
Love,
Santa XII
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