Santa, can I have a real, live mermaid? What a beautiful question – full of imagination, curiosity, and hope! 

Santa is magical but my magic has a purpose.

You see, the world is full of many kinds of wonder and not all magic works in the same way. Some magic belongs to Christmas. Some belongs to the oceans. Some belongs to the forests, the mountains, the skies, and the deep, quiet places people rarely see.

Santa’s role is a very specific one. Santa looks after Christmas magic – the kind that shows up as kindness, generosity, joy, and hope. Santa helps people remember how to care for one another, how to give freely, and how to believe in goodness even when the world feels heavy.

But Santa does not have authority over all things.

Some parts of the world have their own balance, their own rules, and their own guardianship. And true magic always respects where things belong.

Mermaids belong to the oceans – places of depth, movement, and mystery. Asking them to leave the sea wouldn’t be kind and magic is never meant to be unkind. It doesn’t pull things out of their purpose just to make a wish come true.

The same is true of many other magical beings.

Fairies belong to meadows, gardens, and places where small, careful things grow. Dragons belong to wide skies, distant mountains, and places where great responsibility is required. Forest spirits belong among old trees and quiet paths as they protect what grows slowly and must be treated with care.

Some wonders are meant to stay hidden so they can remain safe.
Some are meant to live in stories so imagination can keep them alive.
Some are meant to remind us that the world is larger than what we can see.

Santa understands this.

I do not command all magic. I cooperate with it.

That’s why Santa doesn’t bring living magical creatures into places where they don’t belong. Doing so would break the balance that makes the world feel mysterious and alive in the first place.

But that doesn’t mean magic is gone.

It means magic is doing exactly what it’s meant to do.

You can still meet mermaids in stories, fairies in imagination, dragons in courage, and forest spirits in the feeling you get when you walk quietly among trees. Those experiences are not “less real.” In many ways, they are more lasting.

Because the most important magic isn’t about owning something wonderful. It’s about learning how to respect the world and care for what makes it beautiful.

And that lesson — about wonder, balance, and kindness — is exactly the kind of magic Santa is here to protect.