how to write a real dear santa letter and get a response
Do you remember your childhood Christmas’s pondering what you would wish for? Then sitting down to write Santa a letter and just staring at the blank page. What would actually make it on your Dear Santa wish list letter? It was always such a hard hard choice as a little girl. Right?!?
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Now that I have four children of my own it is important to me to remind my kids of this holiday tradition. Not only because of the spirit of Santa Clause or Old Saint Nicholas and the goodness(of giving back) that he represents- but also because I think it is important for kids to really consider what they want instead of getting everything they ask for.
A few years ago, I made the classic parenthood mistake of going so overboard at Christmas time that my children didn’t even want to finish opening the presents. Thousands of dollars under the Christmas tree and they could have cared less.
They were done with what they already had opened and had lost interest in the rest. My daughter actually put presents back under the tree. There was so much stuff it was just overwhelming to them.
It was an expensive parenting lesson that showed me that it really matters more about the quality than the quantity of presents for my children. They would really rather have a toy that they have been “dreaming and wishing” for, over 20 other toys. There is something about the lack of instant gratification that are children rarely see these days. We buy our kids stuff all year long.
We stop at Target to grab something random and poof they get a toy. It’s no longer just a holiday or birthday special event. Our children rarely have a chance to really want something any more. Since then I have taken a much more simple approach to Christmas.
My children are allowed to ask for 3 (yes just 3) Christmas presents. 1 main gift and 2 smaller items. Now, to be clear I always have a few family tradition items/gifts as well for them, so they still end up with a few extra presents(usually pj’s, snow gear, something to read, something to wear, something to do and something we chose). This allows my kids to have some useful items to accompany their gift wishes.
How to write and mail your dear santa letters
This brings us to our Dear Santa wish letters. Our children write out their three gift wishes from Santa and then we actually mail them to Santa(after we snap a picture of them for our shopping list of course and add a personalized response on the back “from Santa”).
We love to write our Dear Santa letters with Christmas music on while we drink hot cocoa with homemade marshmallows. And of course a candy cane or too as well. It’s just a fun time and I love watching the kids try to figure out what it is that they really want. It’s like a process of toy elimination for them it’s hysterical.
Don’t worry about the Dear Santa letter format though girly, I have two adorable FREE Dear Santa letter printable for you to use right here. Pick your favorite or both, download, print and then the kids are ready to write their letters to Santa.
Can I really mail a letter to Santa Claus?
Yes my sweet friend, you can actually mail your letter to Santa and get a response. However, you are going to have to be a little tricky to be successful.
First, your child writes their letter to Santa.(use one of the free Dear Santa printables above)
Then you write a response from Santa on the back of the letter to Santa(here’s the tricky part-with out your child knowing).
You then place your child’s Letter to Santa with your personalized Santa response on the back in a envelope and also add an additional envelope with your address, child’s name(who the letter will return to), Santa’s North pole address as the return address(see below) and of course a stamp(postage).
Then seal the envelope shut with your Dear Santa letter(secret Santa response on back) and return envelope inside it, add postage(stamp), add your return address and Santa’s address below.
Here is Santa Claus’s address:
Santa Claus
NORTH POLE POSTMARK
POSTMASTER
4141 POSTMARK DR
ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998
++Please note the USPS website recommends sending your letters no later than December 7th so they will have time to process the return before the holiday. If you need additional information or instructions on how the Santa Letter processing occurs you can visit the USPS website HERE.
Then you wait for your Santa response letter to come in the mail. The kids love to get the letters back from Santa and it really makes Christmas so much more special and fun for them.
The USPS will take your letter with the personalized response(that you wrote) and mail it back to you in your pre-addressed envelope that you included. You child’s letter from SANTA(you) will come in the USPS mail to the address you specified.
Next tradition will be bringing out the ELF on the Shelves(Jack and Jill). And of course their pets as well! I am super excited every time I see them. They are just such a fun tradition. We will also be making Santa Cam’s on the blog this next week so keep an eye out.
More coming on the ELF’s soon, but you can see a little bit about them (Click HERE) in a post on Holiday and Christmas Farmhouse DECOR.
What traditions do you love every year? Is there one you just can’t go without during the holiday season? I’d love to hear about it. Share it with us in the comments or tag us on social media.
Wishing you and your loved ones a very HAPPY HOLIDAY Season!
XoXo,
KK
P.S. If you love the giving spirit of Christmas then pin this to PINTEREST to share with others!
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