We've settled into a strange place with L. and this whole Santa business. He doesn't talk about Santa much, and we haven't revisited the conversation we had that afternoon at the craft store. We continue our traditions and L., for the most part, has been good about keeping a lid on his doubts.

At the dinner table the other night we were talking about Santa, and whether or not he could fulfill Scott's unrealistic Christmas list which, at this point, consists entirely of vintage electronics with long names and strange numbers.

"Santa can't make all that!" I pointed out. "It's too much work!"

"Say," L. began, with a strange look on his face. I shot him a warning glance which he didn't seem to notice. "Isn't it strange how Santa isn't ever affected by changing technology, or the economy, or cost-of-living increases, or dwindling resources?"

Luckily, T. just looked at him blankly for a moment. Then, before Scott and I could answer, she crossed her arms over her chest and gave L. a condescending look.

"It's not strange at all," she said. "Santa is MAGIC."

"Magic people," she added. "Can do anything!"

************

Last weekend we continued our tradition of all sitting down and writing our Christmas letters to Santa. I put on our Nat King Cole Christmas music and we had mugs of spiced cider and tried to pretend it was wintry and snowy outside. I wasn't sure what L. would do this year, but when we called him downstairs to tell him we were working on the letters, he came right down and headed into the office to type his up, as he does every year.

For the first time, T. wrote out her own letter! Last year she cut pictures out of catalogs for things she wanted, but this year she wrote her letter all by herself. It was such a sweet, sweet letter, I think and, somehow, the fact that she asks for a pair of tights just melts my heart.

I kind of miss the years L. wrote to Santa asking for things like a glass cockpit, or a $1,000 watch like James Bond's, or some other impossible, extraordinary, wallet-busting, Santa's-workshop-busting thing. His list this year was pretty short and simple, relatively speaking.

(I love the fact that he included the latitude and longitude in Santa's North Pole address)

Maybe simple is good. Maybe my husband could learn a thing or two.

Happy Weekend!