A little magic, straight from the North Pole

Hi! I'm the founder of the Nice List. I'm a pediatric speech pathologist who decided to use writing letters to Santa as a therapy exercise one December. And as I helped my first patient write his letter, I thought it would be fun if "Santa" wrote back. So I bought a miniature Santa mailbox and set it up in my therapy room. After writing their letters, I would have the kids put their letters into the mailbox. During their next session, a letter from Santa would be waiting from them. The wonder and joy on their faces at believing that Santa had written them a letter instantly became a core memory for me. It became an activity that I did every year and looked forward to it for the other 11  months of the year.

Eventually, spreading this Christmas cheer at work didn't feel like enough. So I started writing letters for neighbors and friends. And then it spread. It turns out that I wasn't the only one who thought it was a good idea. Now each year I get to put on my Santa hat, pun intended, and turn my dining table into the North Pole workshop for me and a small group of volunteers.

We do it simply because childhood is short and believing in Santa doesn't last forever. What most of us would give to go back to a time when everything was simple and magic was real. The world can be a hard place sometimes and I stumbled into a way to add a little love back into it. We do it for the wide eyes, the gasps, the "Santa knows my name!" moments. We do it because a single letter can make a child feel seen, celebrated, and truly believed in even if it's just for a little while. And that's worth everything to us.