Dear Santa

First, my apologies for having not written in the past, well, forty two years. It’s nothing personal. Once you get past the age of six, people tend to frown on the fact that you’re still sending letters to Santa. Kids point and laugh, adults wonder when it is you’re going to grow up, etc. And when you become an adult, it's very difficult to find the extra time. I can barely keep up with the things I’m supposed to be doing on a daily basis, never mind find a spare half-hour to pull out pen and paper and jot you a note. Maybe if I could email I might be able to get to it more often. Or maybe you have a Facebook page?

The reason I’m writing now is not so much that I’m hoping you bring me something, although a heating pad would be quite lovely and a really good wrinkle cream is a gift that just keeps on giving. (Can the elves whip up a wrinkle cream? If not, you might suggest they look into it. It could open up a whole new market for you.) Rather, it’s more about the state of the world. I’m not sure what it’s like up there at the North Pole, although from the sound of it you’ve been able to walk around in shorts and a t-shirt a lot more than you used to, but down around here things aren’t looking too rosy. And I’m beginning to think you might be the only one who has any answers.

Remember your naughty and nice list, Santa? I'm not sure whatever happened to that but I think its time for a comeback. I remember naughty people being told their only holiday gift would be a lump of coal in their stocking, a stern reminder that their behaviour over the previous year had been unacceptable. There was a degree of shame connected to that naughty list and a clear signal that expectations were high for the upcoming year. Naughty people weren't rewarded. But not anymore. That dreaded lump of coal has been replaced. Naughty people now look forward to a reality television show, a lucrative book deal or YouTube stardom. Naughty is everywhere. Naughty has become the new nice.

You may be wondering, Santa, what all this has to do with you. It seems to me that you've always been an advocate for children and it's the kids I worry about most. Maybe it's an age thing, so many things seem to be age-related to me, but I worry about the messages we hand our children and our children's children. What have we taught them? Bigger boobs boost your self-esteem? The size of your paycheck is what really counts? The ends justify the means and no matter what you have to do or say is fine as long as you win? Naughty is better? Is that really what we want to leave behind?

So, Santa, I guess what I'm asking here is, can you give nice back to us? Can you bring us reminders that a kind act outweighs a fat wallet? Can you somehow fit patience and tolerance and acceptance into your sack, hoist it onto your sleigh and distribute it to every child on earth? And can you bring back the message that naughty carries consequences? I'm not sure the old lump of coal is the way to go, but I trust you'll think of something.

That's it, Santa. That's what I'm hoping for this year. Just a little of that old fashioned goodwill towards men; a better message for all of us to shelve the naughty for a while and bring on the nice. That would make this one terrific Christmas. Oh, and a little of that wrinkle cream I mentioned wouldn't hurt either.