Instead of toy guns or pogo sticks or Lego kits or toy dolls for Christmas, some children had a bigger concern this year. Sadly, even Santa Claus would have a hard time fulfilling their wish.
It turns out that one of the most requested items this year was simply a father.
A survey of 2,000 British parents found that the 10th most-popular Christmas request was for a "Dad." The request for a "Mom" came in 23rd in the survey. Just as difficult to pull off, at the top of the list was a new brother or sister. Clocking in at number seven was a house, apparently for a wished-for family to live in.
Kids' dreams of fathers jibe with official government figures. The Office for National Statistics reported last January that the number of single-parent families in Britain had reached the 2 million mark for the first time, and almost all (92 percent) of the single parents were women.
Scattered among difficult items like dads, moms, and siblings were more classical Christmas list requests.
Number two on the survey was a real live reindeer. The third-most requested item was a horse. A car placed fourth and a dog finished fifth. Chocolates took the number six spot. The wish for a white Christmas made the top 10, with snow clocking in at number eight. At the ninth spot was "stick of rock," a British phrase referring to a specific candy.
The study was conducted at two locations of the British department store chain Westfield, in London and Stratford City, respectively. Only children between the ages of three and 12 were included in the questioning.
Animals were among the top 50 requests in 17 instances, and included cats and dogs and hamsters. But some kids wanted donkeys, elephants, and chickens.
One child asked for actress Eva Longoria and another for singer Harry Styles from the pop music boy-band One Direction.
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