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Nora would like a balance bike, Lea would like a two-metre tall teddy bear and Max would like a remote-controlled dinosaur. During Advent, tens of thousands of children’s wish lists accumulate in the seven German Christmas post offices.
Classics such as painting and crafts, Lego, Playmobil or Barbie dolls are in great demand, as are mobile phones and tablets, says Rosemarie Schotte, volunteer director of the Christmas post office in Himmelstadt in Lower Franconia.
Children often have very precise ideas, which they communicate to the Child Jesus or to Santa Claus. Ina, a five-year-old girl, for example, would like “everything possible for the doll’s kitchen, namely vacuum cleaner, kneading machine and blender”. Jaron would like an “electric guitar with a good amp”, Louis a cotton candy machine and Klara a fart pillow. Some children add the order number of an item or paste pictures from advertising brochures so that the right gift is under the tree on Christmas Eve.
The toy industry is hoping for good Christmas deals despite higher prices and a generally gloomy consumer mood. Past crises have shown that parents and grandparents prefer to save for themselves and instead spend their money on the children, says Steffen Kahnt, managing director of the toy trade association.
Wish you can’t pay with money
But in addition to toys or books, many children also make wishes that cannot be paid for with money. “Often gifts are no longer the only protagonists. About half of the wishes are ideal,” estimates Britta Töllner, Deutsche Post spokeswoman for the Christkindpost branch in Engelskirchen near Cologne. “Peace” is mentioned particularly often this year: “Please can you stop the war and everyone has enough to eat?”
The hardworking post office helpers answer every letter, even in different languages, because the letters come from all over the world. This year, for the first time, Engelskirchen Christkind also responds in Ukrainian. Töllner reports that several letters have already been received from Ukrainian children. “I want dad to come,” writes eight-year-old Alina, who currently lives in Wuppertal. Sofia from Dortmund would like “nice clothes”, a laptop and to learn to speak German and English.
This time, the children’s letters also contain wishes for a pleasant and peaceful Christmas at home with surprising frequency, says Töllner. For example “a quiet party”, “a snack of cookies by candlelight”, “grandma and grandpa are coming” or “mum and dad have more time for me”. The hypothesis of the Christmas mail expert: The great crises and the worries of adults have awakened a need for security and harmony even in the little ones.
dpa urn:newsml:dpa.com:20090101:221217-99-932993/3
