So what’s Santa bringing the children of Donaghmore?

By Jarlath Cowan

Every year on the run up to Christmas, we have a tendency to pester all the children in our lives with the big question: ‘What is Santa bringing you?’

Upon request from Kris Kringle himself, I recently paid a visit to the children of St Patrick’s Primary School in Donaghmore to get some answers.

After a brief chat with the kids, it brought back some hilarious memories of my own Christmas lists throughout the nineties.

We all remember the excitement of waking up on Christmas morning and seeing what the big man had brought us. Whether he delivered our desired gifts, or offered us an alternative, you had to hand it to him for effort – it can’t be easy travelling around the world in one night, maintaining a jolly old attitude, chimney after chimney, through all sorts of weather conditions – fair play to him!

When I think back to some of my own requests – or should I say ‘demands’ – for Christmas as a kid, my parents deserve praise for keeping a straight face before consulting the man in the red suit.

1996 was a particularly bizarre year in regards to my Christmas list. The world had recently been introduced to Woody and Buzz of the now classic Disney flick ‘Toy Story’. This major blockbuster, starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, captured the imagination of every child who laid eyes on it – and left me keeping a close eye on my own toys, convinced they may very well come to life.

That year, every kid on the planet had to have a Buzz Lightyear action figure. It was the most sought after toy of the year. Unfortunately, due to soaring demand for the beloved flying space ranger, I never got one.

As I got older, my dad informed me of all the trouble he went to in an effort to try and get me my very own Buzz Lightyear – having drove the length and breadth of the country, he had no joy in finding one anywhere.

I like to humour myself by imagining my dad in a ‘Jingle All the Way’ type scenario. This was a classic Christmas film that follows Arnold Schwarzenegger in a rather violent yet hilarious quest to find his son a ‘Turbo Man’ doll to open on Christmas Day.

The only difference was that my dad had a long way to go before physically resembling ‘Arnie’ in anyway, and whilst young Jamie in ‘Jingle All the Way’ ended up content on Christmas, under the impression that his father was the real-life Turbo Man, my dad wasn’t Buzz Lightyear either – no offence Jimmy. and Merry Christmas!

My second request that year was my own real-life version of the Jumanji board game. Unfortunately, my parents informed me that Santa didn’t have any of those either. This was a lucky escape for them as I’m sure they would have loved nothing more than a stampede of African wildlife crashing through the front door as we sat down to Christmas dinner – although a poorly groomed, half dressed Robin Williams would have probably been most-welcomed for the comedy value alone.

In the end, I settled for every parent’s favourite gift for a six-year-old on any occasion. A drum kit.

That kept me occupied for a couple of days until I inevitably broke each drum, playing too hard in an attempt to replicate the talent of Roger Taylor of Queen.

My visit to St Patrick’s Primary School in Donaghmore, reminded me of what makes Christmas special; the imaginations of children.

A big request on a lot of their wishlists this year is something they called ‘Slime’, which is literally just.. slime! Available in a range of colours, it seems to be a big hit this year.

Others requested such timeless gifts like footballs, superhero action figures, Barbie dolls, and ‘chewing gum’ even topped one of their lists.

Today, we take a look at some of the requests from the Primary 2 pupils. Whilst we couldn’t show them all, we want all the boys and girls to know that their Christmas wishes have been sent all the way to the North Pole and Santa will certainly try his best to have their toys ready for the big day.

Charlotte Dobson wants slime for Christmas.

Charlie McNamee wants a mountain bike with gears on it.

Eabha Bowen wants a Barbie with elves.

Ethan McCall wants a football.