圣诞快乐

平安夜，那首silent night的歌一直在心中回响。四周静悄悄的，霓虹灯闪烁着，在黑夜里照亮圣诞老人的路，小朋友已经在甜蜜的梦乡了，google 的NORAD在全球追踪圣诞老人的行踪，据说，那个全世界小朋友最喜欢的老人已经造访完美国，到加拿大去了。身为圣诞老公公的精灵之一的我，任务终于完成了，终于可以坐下来，写点什么：)

在过去的一个月里，大家在调频94.5MHz的电台里，谈论家里圣诞节的传统节目。圣诞节，已不是严格意义上的宗教的节日了，而成为大家互送东西，表达爱意，亲戚朋友家人们相聚，一起欢度的节日了。我们这个家，也貌似有了自己的传统节目了 --- 那就是大家一起来读圣诞老公公给小朋友写的信！大家都知道圣诞老人太忙了，这些信当然就是他的那群可爱的小精灵帮着写的了，但由于要写得信太多了，忙乱中难免有差错。我们都会原谅她的 :-)
12/24/2009

Dear Alex,

Can you believe that another year passed by? You are a second grader now! How is your new school? And how are your new friends? Do you still miss your old classmates? ……You must wonder why I know everything. Can you guess?

Let me tell you my secret -- I have hundreds and thousands of elves who are helping me to collect all kinds of information, then I know who is nice and who is naughty. Those elves help me to prepare the gifts too! Without their help, I cannot finish my work at all. You don’t like Santa with the empty sack, do you? I really appreciate their work. Everybody should be thankful for everything he gets! Thankful for teachers teaching you new knowledge; Thankful for mom and dad providing the warm home; Thankful for sisters and brothers playing with you; Thankful for friends bring the happiness to you; Thankful for farmers growing the fruits and vegetables; Thankful for doctors curing your illness …… This list can go on and on! When you thank me for bringing the gift to you, please thank all the elves too, who work really hard!

As I know, you have been a good boy last year. You read lots of books and you like reading, do you? Reading is a good habit, it helps you widen your eyes, build your knowledge, and bring joys to you for the life long. Please keep this good habit!

Writing is a little harder. But if you often write down what you experienced, what you know, and what you are thinking, even you only write down several sentences, little by little, you will find that you are making progress! And writing will become another joyful thing to do!

In the year just passed, so many things just happened in your life. I will write down for you, when you grow up and look back, you will be surprised how colorful your 6-year-old life is!

1) You learned frog-stroke swimming in just 10 days! That’s amazing!

2) You visited the Great Wall in Beijing! It says that “If you fail to climb on Great Wall, you are not a brave man!” You did it!

3) You learned how to play the caster board in summer. If you continue to practice, you will learn how to get on it and become an expert!

4) You made a big progress on drawing. I can see that you start to draw the good sketch since you pay attention to the very detail things! Good observation is one of the keys to do art work, it needs the shape eyes and patience. And imagination is another key. Like wings, it helps you “fly” and go beyond what you can see! Keep going, you will be better and better!

5) You continued to learn chess. Do you have fun with it? It’s a game, there will be winning and lost. When you win, what do you feel? When you lose, what do you do? I know, it is always excited to be a winner! You win because you practiced, or sometimes because of luck. It is a reward for your hard work in the past! And you want to win again in the future, you need practice more. Otherwise, the other people can catch up quickly. In the other hand, it’s tough to lose games. Do you feel sad? Or OK? Game is just a game, lost once is not a big deal! There is no always-winning person even he is super smart! The important thing to do after lost is keeping practice and never giving up!

6) You start to learn piano! I cannot believe it! But I am sure that you are two year older than before, your fingers are stronger, your eyes, brain and hands’ coordination is better, and your comprehension is improved, you will learn it more easily and faster. But of course, it requires practice and practice! Practice makes perfect! Music is such a great thing in the world, when you are happy, it makes you happier; when you are sad, you can drain out your blueness through it; when you are bored, you play music, it will make your spirit bright…… Like books, music is always the good friend of human beings!

7) You can write Chinese words now! Wow! Chinese is the most difficult language to learn in the world, but you know how to talk, how to read, and even how to write now! Super! Go, Alex, go! It is so fantastic to know two languages, traveling between West and East and learning two different cultures. You are very lucky!

The list can go on and on…….but I will stop here since I already wrote a long letter. All in one, I am very proud of you, and you are such a great boy!

Oh, but there is one more thing I need mention. You lose your temper easily sometime. It’s OK to be angry, to be frustrated, or to be annoyed, but we should learn how to vent out our anger, frustration and madness properly -- depth breath, going outside running, playing, listening to music, talking about it, writing down how angry you are, pouching pillow, throwing the balls …… all are the good ways. I know it is not easy, but always try to do something instead of crying and whining! I am not saying that you are bad when you lose your temper, but it is always wise to control our emotion instead the emotion controls us! I can expect that you will become stronger and healthier physically and emotionally in the next year!

It’s time to say good bye! Thank you very much for your delicious ginger bread cookie and milk! I hope you like your presents. I am running out of time, I must go now!

Wish you merry Christmas & a happy new year!

Love
Santa Claus

Tiffany收到了一封类似的信。明天一早，他们会怎样兴奋地看他们的礼物和读这一封这么长的信呢？（偷偷地说，还这么烂！）

想象着他们的笑脸，这个小精灵也忍不住笑了。明天会是美好的一天！

祝大家圣诞快乐！新年快乐！