Santa Claus Provides Alternative Delivery Dates for Military Families

It’s that special time of year when families all around the world are preparing to celebrate Christmas with their families, and of course, a visit from Santa. While most children know Santa comes to their homes on the night of December 24th and that they open presents on the 25th, it is not so for all families. Parents who work in the military and first responders are often out protecting the country and our communities on holidays. They may be on-call, deployed, and working swing shifts and so their schedules may be different than most families.

A military wife, Stephanie Lynn, has addressed the difficulties faced by military and first responder families by creating a letter from Santa Claus that lists alternative delivery dates for parents who work on Christmas. Her Facebook post where she shares the letter for military and first responder families has been shared 62,015 times, liked over 10 thousand times, and has 4,000 comments (as of this post). Even NORAD, who has a special website for families to track Santa’s Christmas ride, has made a special Facebook post notifying the children of these special dates.

In part of Stephanie’s post, she speaks of her and her husband’s Christmas schedule: “This year, it’s likely Brent will be working on Christmas Day, so we’ve decided to have Christmas the morning of the 24th when we can all be together. I typed up a letter from Santa Claus, just for these special kids, and wanted to share it with y’all, just in case.”

In the very official letter from Santa to the children, Santa explains that his elves have provided him with some alternative dates that he can deliver other than December 24th. These dates are special and help those families that share their loved ones on Christmas Eve and Day. In the end, Santa reminds the little children that “Christmas isn’t about a box on the calendar, but the feeling we keep in our hearts.”

Below is a link to her Facebook post, which also includes optional special letters for medical professionals, pilots and flight crew, and others who may also have different Christmas schedules. She encourages you to print one if you need to do the same and share it with others.