By LORI BASHEDA / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

They were mailed to Candy Cane Lane. Reindeer Road. The North Pole. Polo Norte. And in one case, simply, God.

But, alas, thousands of letters to Santa are piling up in bins at Orange County’s main post office in Santa Ana.

And how unfortunate it is that Santa hasn’t seen this particular batch. Because they hold enough Christmas spirit to power his sleigh around the world ten times over.

The boys and girls who wrote the letters promise to get to bed earlier, mind their mother and, in one case, stop spitting. They send their regards to the elves. Write songs to Rudolph. And, of course, ask for every sort of miracle: from a job for their dad to a ginger bread man “with the special stuff on to make him come to life.”

SEE PHOTOS OF LETTERS TO SANTA

There are letters from future politicians: “I promise I’ll keep my room clean,” writes a girl named Vanessa.

And from skeptics: “So I know that (it was you who left the Barbie Dream House), please write me back.”

There are the first-name-basis kids: “Dear Santa Claus, it’s me, Summer Daisy…”

And the drama queens: “Oh please, please can you make Stella be my sister?” begs a girl named Riley, explaining that Stella is currently only her best friend.

There are the butter-uppers: “I don’t think your fat!” wrote one boy above a pencil-drawn picture of a shirtless Santa looking more like The Situation.

And the politically correct children: “I am going to leave milk and cookies out for you. And they will be gluten free,” a boy writes. “The milk will be goats milk.”

The boy’s wish? A dog – “from the pound.”

There are also letters that will break your heart.

“Dear Santa, I am a not so very fortunet person,” writes one boy. “So for Christms, I want a beautiful gift for my grama. P.S. It is really cold and my grandma likes blankets.”

He goes on to say that he loves his family “more than a bear her cub.” And on a final note, he tells Santa that if he does have any magic left in his bag on Christmas Eve, he would like just one thing: a Fushigi, “the magical floating ball.”

Then there is this one: “Dear Santa, you don’t’ have to bring me eneything but can you please just bring my little brothers and sisters some toys. They always talk about you.”

And, God forbid, this one: “My mom and little brother were killed by my daddy. Please help my grandparents. They give us lots of love and we need your help.”

Not all the letter writers are children. One mother of three wrote that she can’t buy presents this year for her girls because she has no job. “Thank you, Santa Claus, for reading my letter.”

She’s thanking you.

Today (Dec. 16) is the last day the public is invited to go to the post office on Sunflower in Santa Ana, sift through the stacks of letters, and, if one touches your heart, be the Santa.

Barry Flynn, of Orange, was there Tuesday doing just that. He is unemployed himself, but, with a tear trickling down his cheek, he took a letter for eight siblings and hurried out.

“I know from my own childhood that’ it’s no fun having to say you had no Christmas gift,” he later texted me.

Of course, all the letters cannot be answered. And not all of them need to be. Clearly some come from children with happy homes, multi-colored pens and ambitious wish lists.

“Dear Santa, I really want a pig,” reads a letter from a girl who ticks off the reasons she should get one, No. 3 being that she wants to knit “a cozy bed” for it.

Another girl asks for an iPad “to replace the computer I never had.”

There’s a boy who writes that what he wants most of all is a”hypoalergetic puppy named Spot!”

And another boy sent in an itemized list with 31 things on it. No. 24: A remote control snake.

Other letters are simply too hard to decode. A girl named Natasha wants “that thing that you fill up with water and dip your head in.”

But for every boy who asks for the latest Nintendo, and every dreamy-eyed girl who wants “a magic bell … and a ride on The Polar Express,” there is a letter writer like Alexys.

“Dear Santa, I have 4 sisters and I want to get them a toy and maybe shoes,” the girl writes. “And if you have an extra Christmas tree can you bring us one?”

Well, can you?

Contact the writer: 714-932-1705 or lbasheda@ocregister.com