The Baby Bunny
Santa was so busy working out last-minute things with the elves and checking my list of boys and girls around the world (yes, Santa does have a list and does check it – more than twice), that I almost forgot to sit down and write you my annual letter.
As you can probably guess, things are really busy this time of the year up here at the North Pole. We too had a warm spell in October and one day I was in my Santa Shorts and the next day I had to put on long pants and a sweater. I really would rather be in my shorts.
One year when it got warm just before Christmas, I asked Mrs. Claus to make me a new Santa suit with short pants in case the weather stayed warm. She gave me that special look, like she often does, and told me that the world wasn’t ready to see my knobby knees. Then she smiled. Mrs. Claus is not only my wife, but my best friend and we often make friendly fun of each other. But then, I wouldn’t be surprised one warm Christmas Eve to find a pair of red shorts tucked into my Santa bag.
The reindeer are all well and getting ready for the trip on Christmas Eve. As usual they are playing tricks on each other, which sometimes draws my attention away from the toys and the elves. Then the elves take advantage of my being away to play tricks on me. I have to be real careful when I go back to where they are making the toys. But, it is all in good fun and every year everybody and everything is ready on Christmas Eve, so Santa can’t be too strict with them and has to let them enjoy their fun.
Mrs. Claus is packing my bag with extra Santa suits, warm gloves, dry socks and a couple of scarves to make sure that Santa stays warm and dry for the whole trip on Christmas Eve. She knows that the weather can be really bad some years and wants to make sure that I don’t catch a cold half way through the trip. She really takes good care of me and I especially love her for that.
Santa loves all children whether they be just born or over a hundred years old. Yes, everyone is a child to Santa and all are very precious to me. But sometimes something happens to remind Santa how very special the very young are.
Last Spring when Santa was sitting outside enjoying the warm rays of the sun and looking around at the wonderful world where we live, one of the elves brought me a tiny bunny that he had found in some leaves behind the reindeer barn. Its eyes were still closed and although the elf had looked around for quite some time to find its mother, apparently it had been abandoned for one reason or another.
Mrs. Claus, the elves and I all love animals and when there is an accident and a baby animal is left without a mother we do everything we can to help it.
As I held this tiny bunny in my hands and fed it milk from the bottle that the elf had also brought, I began to think about all of the new babies that I would be visiting this Christmas Eve.
Babies are a gift, a very special gift, and like the tiny bunny that I held gently in my hands, they need an enormous amount of our love and attention to survive. But, they give back much, much more than they require. If you have ever held a very young, innocent baby in your arms you will know what I mean.
Santa gets to hold a lot of babies and just holding them brings a gift of love from them to Santa. You see, all gifts don’t have to be material. In fact, the gift of love is far greater than any other present one can give. And just holding someone so young also brings inspiration and new life to we who have lived for many years. They are really magical.
Whoops, Santa has to go. One of the elves just ran in telling me that one of the toy-making machines has broken down and needs to be fixed. I suspect that they are just trying to get me in there to play a trick on me, so I better be careful.
Keep sending all those letters to Santa and, most of all, mind your manners, listen to your parents and teachers, be kind and, especially, take good care of each other.
Love, your good friend, Santa Claus
P.S. Remember, soft chocolate chip cookies and a glass of cold milk are Santa’s favorite treat.