When I was a kid, my brother and I woke up to a new unwrapped book on our bed every Christmas morning. The book could be a Christmas book, a book about a current interest, or any book Santa thought we might like. Santa always wrote our names in the books and signed his name in his special Santa handwriting.
It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized Santa didn’t do this for all children.
Those books were always special to me, and it was a relief to see the book first thing as confirmation that Santa had, in fact, made it to our house overnight. Looking at the book was a quiet moment that also built anticipation for the thrill of seeing the presents under the tree soon after. In retrospect, maybe Santa thought it would buy my parents a few extra minutes of sleep while we looked through or started reading the book, but it was a very quick perusal before we woke our parents up to get to the rest of the excitement of Christmas morning. Maybe it will work out better for you!
After I learned that Santa had help from my parents, I remember being disappointed when there wasn’t a book one year. I guess my parents figured the jig was up, but my brother and I asked for it to continue well into our teen years. This tradition started in my dad’s family, and I had been convinced that he was the one who had penned the special Santa font. He was more artistic, and my mom always wrote in cursive, while Santa did not. As a teenager, I was shocked to find out that my mom was the one who had created the Santa font throughout our childhoods.
I knew I wanted to continue this tradition with my own kids, but I decided to adapt it a bit.
My brother was scared of Santa coming into his room to leave the book. It’s reasonable—who would want a strange old man sneaking into your bedroom at night? For my own kids, we decided that Santa would leave the book outside their bedroom doors. It’s still their first present of the morning without the fear of someone at their beds while they sleep. I have continued to write in a distinct Santa font (the same one he uses on the gift tags, too, of course), but I find it harder than my mom made it look. Maybe I’ll get better with practice each year.
If you’re looking for a fun, cheap, easy, yet meaningful Christmas tradition to start for your kids, give this one a try. I promise you it’s much easier than remembering to move a dang elf every night for a month.
