For a kid in London, this hope turned into reality 4 years back. 

Playing inside his house, 2-year-old Alfie noticed a bearded man walking down the street and shouted to his mom, “Look, it’s Father Christmas!”

The man, who had crossed three houses, decided to play along and came back to give him some money. 

Since then, playing Santa has become a Christmas trend. 

In an interview given to Buzzfeed, Alfie’s mom said, “This was four years ago, and we still exchange gifts to each other. He comes to see Alfie and my daughter Hayley on their birthdays and gives gifts, he never forgets the dates”.

The story was posted on Facebook by the family’s former neighbour and a photographer.

She said, “I’ve known Alfie since he was just a baby, there’s not much that stops him in his tracks, but when he saw ‘Father Christmas’ he came running into me and said ‘you’ve got to come, the real Santa Claus is at our door, he comes to our house.'”

In times when religion is being actively used to create a divide between people, a child and his ‘real Santa Claus’ are giving us some hope for a sweeter future.