By Staff
Take a look at the several pages of letters to Santa Claus inside today's edition of The Brewton Standard, and you'll start to wonder if children these days are just a little bit materialistic.
Children as young as 6 asked for cellular phones, laptop computers and every type of video game system available - and sometimes they want all three, and then some.
I'm not sure Santa and his elves are going to be able to fill all of those requests.
I was worried about the effects of greed on our children until I remembered the game my sister and I played when we wrote our letters to Santa. We sat next to each other in a big chair and flipped painstakingly through the big J.C. Penney catalog.
Wendy insisted that we choose a toy from every page - even the ones with G.I. Joe and Matchbox cars.
So I'm not too worried anymore. I have a feeling there's a little bit of peer pressure behind those requests for mounds of toys and games and clothing.
Read closer among our letters in this issue, and you'll find that many of the children made requests that Santa bring their sisters and brothers and parents and friends and teachers a gift.
Some asked for simple, old-fashioned toys; some asked for happiness and peace for their families.
I suspect most children will be content with whatever Santa is able to put under the tree this Christmas.
Of course, we can't forget that there may be some children Santa simply isn't able to help as much as he would like to.
Recently my husband visited a school in Baldwin County - an area filled with communities that we all assume are wealthy and affluent.
A teacher at the school recalled that one of her students wrote Santa asking for a Barbie doll.
When the teacher asked the little girl if that was really her Christmas wish, the child shook her head.
She had only asked for the doll because all of the other girls in the class did.
Children everywhere deserve their greatest wishes this Christmas, and what they truly want isn't always reflected in their letters to Santa.
My prayer this Christmas is that those most desired gifts will find their way to those most truly deserving.
Kerry Whipple Bean is publisher of The Brewton Standard. She can be reached at 867-4876 or by e-mail at kerry.bean@brewtonstandard.com.