Dearest Lily,

I know that your Mummy has been reading some of my very old letters to you (some of them are almost 100 years old!), so I thought that, as you are almost 6 now and because your reading has come on so wonderfully this year, it was about time I started writing to you too.  Until he gets old enough to be able to read himself, I am hoping that you will be able to read these to your brother Alexander also.

I cannot believe how quickly Christmas seems to come around each year.  It seems like merely weeks ago since I ate my last mince pie after delivering the last of the presents in 2017, yet, here we are again – trees, tinsel, lights, candy canes and of course lots of lovely Christmas carols being sung!  I have stopped counting how old I am as it was becoming a ridiculous number to write down but know that I am now a ripe of age and have seen many centuries of christmases come and go, including the 5 (almost 6) that you have experienced so far.  I do hope you like Christmas as much as I do.

My good friend Elvis the Elf tells me that there has been much excitement bubbling in your household in anticipation of the main festivities.  He is particularly complimentary of your behaviour in recent weeks and also of the gingerbread house that you and your Mummy have been making.  He in fact was so taken with the idea of a gingerbread house that he invited all the local “shelf elves” for a the end of season party in it 🙂  When I came told drop your presents off tonight I noticed though that it had not yet been fully iced together so they had to change the venue of the party to your chocolate advent house instead – it really looked quite a shindig when I passed – the music was blaring, everyone was dancing and all the lights were on!  I do hope that they left it tidy so that your Mummy doesn’t have to clean it all up in the morning… Anyway, I must say that I am also impressed with the gingerbread house and I am sure that when it is fully built it will be considerably stronger that my own house!  Did you know that I have had to have the floors strengthened this year due to the number of presents we have had to wrap and store?

Preparing for Christmas at our end, has been quite challenging this year as, sadly, after many years of loyal service the North Polar Bear has decided to retire.  I always had him pegged as a bit of liability in the past but must say that I have missed having him about, despite the fact that we have had less chaos than usual in his absence!  He wants to spend some time travelling and meeting some bears from other countries and has decided in his wisdom that he wants to learn to ski, which I must say that this is long overdue as his ice-sports have always been dreadfully poor.  Last year he found a dusty old sledge in the reindeer shed and caused such a calamity when he experimented with sledging down the stairs in the main house.  He was going so fast that he ended up sliding right out of the front door and straight into the side of the main  toy making and wrapping factory scattering frightened elves and ribbons everywhere!  It took us almost two weeks to clean up afterwards!  I was worried fro a while that this may have put us all very behind but everyone worked around the clock to ensure that the deliveries went out on time without a hitch!

I really appreciate the lovely mince pie, milk and carrot that you left out for me and Rudolph tonight and I must say that the double-sided Penguin/Fairy tree  topper that you and your brother made this year is an absolute triumph!

Well, I must be off as I still have lots more deliveries to make tonight.  In case you were wondering, you are of course on the ‘good’ list and I hope that you get much enjoyment out of your gifts.  It has been a pleasure to watch you grow into the beautiful little girl that you are over these past few years 🙂

Wishing you and your entire family a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.  I will write again next year.

With much love, always,

Father Christmas

PS: I bumped into the Tooth Fairy tonight on my way out and I believe that she may also have left you a very generous gift in return for your first ever tooth – such a momentous occasion!!!