Mrs. Claus Postcards are LIVE!

[danieloneiroi]

For the past few years, I have written to low-income kids as "Mrs. Claus." I'm not particularly xtian nor do I "do" xmas, but I think it's an important community-building activity. It brings people together. 

You can write them, too! If you are on NextDoor or in a facebook group, you can post your own "ads." A postcard is now .56USD to mail; a notecard a bit more (but regular stamps have winter/Xmas images; PC stamps do not.)

I made this Google Form to keep track of messages and contact info. You can fill it out if you have a low-income kid in mind! I don't check, of course. It's an honour system. You can make your own form and customise it to however you want.

forms.gle/fMferUqXK5zXF39q9
 

Make sure all cards are mailed by Monday, Dec. 16th this year!

USPS gets especially bogged down in December. You will need to allow extra time, just in case. 

Why bother?

Kids who, like myself, are growing up with families that choose between food that week or a $5 toy, are probably not going to be getting much. Kids pay a LOT more attention to things than you might think, since they have no life experience and therefore observe EVERYTHING. They KNOW things are 'different' from other families. They know that they're stressed out, but don't have language for that- and other kids aren't. They know they're often cautious and worried, even when they have no way of saying that's what it is. Again, no life experience to know the difference. And often, no language skills yet for these big concepts. 

Those are the ones who could use a Mrs. Claus postcard. 

Mrs. Claus postcards (or notecards, if I can't find PCs) don't just say "Merry Christmas!" They are meant to specifically thank a child for something 'observed,' like doing their homework even when they hated class, or being nice to their brother, even when they were really upset because their brother's crying was making it hard to watch their favourite TV show. 

NO mention of presents or gifts is allowed. 

NO mention of "well, it's hard for Santa to get to EVERY kid's house these days..." is allowed. 

At least, not when I write them.

I never want kids to feel left out, or like "even Santa forgot me." Or "Kids next door were important, but Santa skipped ME, why did THEY get something and he didn't have time for ME? I was right next to them!" No mention of presents because that isn't what the holiday is supposed to be about, but also, there should be no comparing: "I didn't get what I wanted. Is it because I was bad? My friend at school got five presents, and they were really cool! Her mom was really mad a few weeks ago though, so why does Santa like her more?" 

None of that.

There will be no opportunity for disappointment, confusion, anxiety, or sadness. 

These cards are meant to uplift someone. They are meant to act as positive reinforcement, especially for doing the "little things" they think might not be noticed. 

The character of a human being isn't in what they're doing when everyone watches. It's about what someone does when they think no one is looking, and no one will find out. 

Jesus said to pray in your closets and to not seek praise for goodness done. Kids often don't know this, nor do they have experience to truly understand the ideas. But the ADULTS do. Adults who ascribe to Xtianity should, and should keep working on it. I believe many are trying to do exactly that. Encourage those efforts whenever possible.