more Noel stuff en francais: le "Pere Noel Portable"!

Writing letters to Santa Claus is so old-fashioned, don't you think? Actually, I don't, but Griffin can't read or write yet, so I'm thrilled to discover this website, "Portable Santa Claus," which will send a personalized video message to your child in French or in English!

You input information about the child (age, hair color, eye color), what behavior issues you wanted him to work on this year (selecting from drop-down menus of everything from "obeying your mother" to "obeying your preschool teacher" to "obeying your stepmother" to "eating all your vegetables" to "going to bed on time" and so forth--and these are just the toddler options, because there are different choices for different ages), what he wants for Christmas, and so on. You can also include photos and indicate what they represent--a trip you took this year, a new arrival in the family, and so forth.

The website then puts together a video of a jolly, gentle Santa greeting your child and reading about him from his "grimoire" (complete with the photos you uploaded). Santa compliments the child on his good behavior (or chastizes him for not being a good boy, if you select that option) and generally says lots of Santa-riffic things. The versions of the video letter for older children are longer and begin with a tour through an area of Santa's Workshop at the North Pole.

It's charming (and free)! I can't wait to see what Griffin thinks of his video from Santa, and I'm also going to send one to Carl.