High Tech Christmas
I came across a comic strip in our local paper the other day. It was a little boy and he was sitting on Santa's lap, presumably at the mall. The jolly old man asked the little boy "what do you want for Christmas little fellow?" To this the boy replied angrily "what you didn't get my text message?!"
My how the times have changed. When I was a kid we looked forward to writing Santa Claus a letter every December. I still remember Brian and I asking mom how to spell certain toys. Our letters were always very sweet and only listed 2-3 things we really wanted. When the lettering was perfect we sealed them up and gave them to Santa when we visited the mall. It was such a special feeling knowing that Santa would be reading our letters. It created a special and magical bond.
Tonight I watched as Gracie sat on her father's lap, and just as I had done told just what she wanted for Christmas...
...Daddy then typed Gracie's wish list on the computer and emailed her "letter' to the North Pole.
My how times have changed.
This site was very cute and I encourage any parent to help email their child's letter to Santa, especially since Santa sends a response right back. But, it definitely isn't the Christmas preparation I remember.
I hope that all of this new technology isn't making us less personal. Don't get me wrong email is an awesome invention, as are the web, blogging, and all the other instant communication technologies out there. But with all of this high speed "linking," do any of us put value on what we are saying? It is so easy to just "whip" up an email or send a text message (often with abbreviations and one word responses). Emailing Santa is so much easier than actually writing a letter, instant messages are much quicker than a phone call, passing on a forward is more fun than finding out how someone is doing.
As for me I still send cards and letters, not as often as I would like, but there is joy in sending the personal touch. I enjoy email, but it is much more satisfying to call up a best friend and chat about what's really going on in their lives. I hope that our children, who are exposed to a world of innovative new technology don't lose that personal touch. I hope that my daughter will talk to me instead of sending an instant message. That she and her friends will find away to use all of these new ways to communicate and still sit down and write a letter. That her father and I will do more to keep up with her life than tracking her whereabouts by her cell phone.
I guess I got on my soap box to say this; emailing Santa is a great way to have fun at Christmas, but don't short change the man in red, he still wants to know you care enough to write him once a year.
My how the times have changed. When I was a kid we looked forward to writing Santa Claus a letter every December. I still remember Brian and I asking mom how to spell certain toys. Our letters were always very sweet and only listed 2-3 things we really wanted. When the lettering was perfect we sealed them up and gave them to Santa when we visited the mall. It was such a special feeling knowing that Santa would be reading our letters. It created a special and magical bond.
Tonight I watched as Gracie sat on her father's lap, and just as I had done told just what she wanted for Christmas...
...Daddy then typed Gracie's wish list on the computer and emailed her "letter' to the North Pole.
My how times have changed.
This site was very cute and I encourage any parent to help email their child's letter to Santa, especially since Santa sends a response right back. But, it definitely isn't the Christmas preparation I remember.
I hope that all of this new technology isn't making us less personal. Don't get me wrong email is an awesome invention, as are the web, blogging, and all the other instant communication technologies out there. But with all of this high speed "linking," do any of us put value on what we are saying? It is so easy to just "whip" up an email or send a text message (often with abbreviations and one word responses). Emailing Santa is so much easier than actually writing a letter, instant messages are much quicker than a phone call, passing on a forward is more fun than finding out how someone is doing.
As for me I still send cards and letters, not as often as I would like, but there is joy in sending the personal touch. I enjoy email, but it is much more satisfying to call up a best friend and chat about what's really going on in their lives. I hope that our children, who are exposed to a world of innovative new technology don't lose that personal touch. I hope that my daughter will talk to me instead of sending an instant message. That she and her friends will find away to use all of these new ways to communicate and still sit down and write a letter. That her father and I will do more to keep up with her life than tracking her whereabouts by her cell phone.
I guess I got on my soap box to say this; emailing Santa is a great way to have fun at Christmas, but don't short change the man in red, he still wants to know you care enough to write him once a year.
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