Santa’s made his list and is checking it twice, but little girls and boys who want to make sure the jolly guy in red has the right Christmas gift should start sending in their letters now.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, brightly colored envelopes with handwritten messages make their way into the area’s local postal offices.

Most have messages like “I’ve been good. I want a doll,” or “I want an X-Box,” but what people may not realize is that each letter addressed to Santa that arrives at local post offices gets a reply back.

Mike Kaolmetz, Andalusia’s postmaster, said as long as local children get their letter to the North Pole into the post office by Dec. 21, they’ll get a response back from Santa himself.

Stamps, he said, are encouraged.

“We’ve gotten an average of six letters a week so far, but I’m sure it will increase,” he said. “We even have a specially-designed mailbox just for the letters, guaranteed to get them to the North Pole and back in no time.”

Other important mailing deadlines for Christmas delivery are:

• Dec. 15 for domestic mail;

• Dec. 17 for military mail;

• Dec. 20 for first class mail:

• Dec. 21 for priority mail; and,

• Dec. 22 for express mail.