'For Santa, Christmas is year-round': A letter from Mrs. Claus

Every year on Christmas Mrs. Claus comes on CBC's Blue Skyto answer children's questions about Santa and the Christmas season. Call1-800-716-2221 and listen here at noon CST on Dec. 24.

This year, for the first time, Mrs. Claus agreed to write a letter to the children of the world in advance of her radio appearance.

The question that most children (and grownups) ask about Santa Claus is, "How does he do it all in one night?"

There are two answers:

First, Santa has a lot of help. There are more than 6,000 elves working up here at the North Pole and every one of them is busy building toys. Some people call them Santa's Little Helpers.

Right now, Crinkle is hard at work on the skateboards, Dandy is in the Polly Pockets room and Mylar and Burton are making a mess while building a statue of Blitzen out of Lego. Sprocket and Corky are supposed to be making Hatchimals, but they can't stop giggling, and Pickle is helping Santa find his glasses (he probably left them in the Star Wars room. He loves to 'test' those toys).

I get to help too. I massage the reindeers' hooves once a week and make snacks for the elves.

But my favourite Christmas tradition is taking phone calls from children. We get to talk about what presents they'd like Santa to bring them, how Santa's sleigh can fly, and do they have to go to sleep on Christmas Eve? (Yes. The answer is yes. Trust me.)

They ask about jobs they can do for Santa too. That's something many people don't know: It's not just the elves and me helping Santa, it's the kids too.

You have no idea how many times Santa forgets to take off his boots and leaves wet footprints in people's houses. I can ask a child to leave him a note to remind him and they are happy to do it.

The kids I talk to want to help. They want to make Santa's night the best it can be. They ask about his favourite kind of cookie, or if they can leave snacks for the reindeer.

Whenever I ask a favour, kids say yes. They'll draw a map to the bathroom, they'll leave a pen so he can check names off of his list, or they'll leave Santa some Kleenex in case his nose gets runny.

Children all over the world help Santa.

'The kids help make it happen'

The second answer to, "How does he do it all in one night?" is that he doesn't.

For Santa, Christmas is year-round. He loves to work hard for the children of the worldbecause the children work so hard for the world. They care about what other people need, just like Santa does.

Each time Santa sees a child share the toys he brought them last year, that is part of Christmas. It's part of Christmas every time he sees kids get together to build a snowman, or when one person makes another person feel better by helping, or apologizing, or hugging.

It amazes me each time I talk to someone on the phone and instead of wanting toys for themselves, they ask for gifts for their sisters or brothers instead. One family told me that instead of leaving a snack for Santa, they were going to donate to their local food bank.

These kinds of things happen all year, all around the world. It's as if a little part of Santa is in each of these kids and they are working all year to make the world better.

Santa doesn't make Christmas happen all in one night. The kids help make it happen. They are Santa's Little Helpers.

Love,

Mrs. Claus