Proof we ruined him.

When Ben was two, we brought him up to my mom and dad's bed on Christmas morning and asked him if Santa came last night and brought him any presents.

In the tiniest, shakiest voice ever, he replied, "Santa's not scary."

Last year we had him and Renee write notes to Santa and since Ben was learning to write letters, he told us what he wanted to say and, since you hang on my every word you may remember, his letter ended up saying, "Dear Santa, Thanks for the good work."

This year he knows how to write whole words, and all we had to do was give the monkey a marker and tell him to dance. Here's what the kid came up with.

In case you're not up to speed on deciphering 6-year-old, that says "Dear Santa, Even if you're not there, I still know you're watching!! Love, Ben."

So Ben's impression of Santa is a home invader stalker who demands encouragement. If that's not the makings of a Merry Christmas for a kid, I don't know what is.

Here's a pic of Renee with her letter too. Renee, since you hang on my every word you may remember, has a tendency to write novels about how good she has been and is hellbent on riding on Santa's sleigh.

These damn kids. Why are they so fun to torture?