Four-year-old Ani Grigoryan writes a letter to Santa Claus with the help of her mother.

“Dear Santa, I want you to bring pink shoes with feathers, glass beads, and high-heels to me. And I want a sub-machine gun,” Ani concludes the series of her wishes. The last item is a toy. We hope.

Her mother – 31-year-old Arpine Karapetyan, seals the envelope and tells her daughter that she is going to send it to Santa. “This year I am lucky, I will spend little money. The shoes that she wants, she has already gotten as a present, however, I have hidden them to give them to her now, so the only thing that is left to buy is the sub-machine gun, and it costs 2,000 drams ($5), I can afford it,” Karapetyan says.

The New Year is not only a festival of joy, but also a festival of concerns for parents in Armenia. Besides assigning money for the New Year table, they have to allocate money from the family budget to buy toys and presents for their children. For some, the financial side of the holiday is a challenge.

According to official data the average family income in Armenia is about $520-760 a month. It is estimated that the New Year Table and related expenses will cost about $390-520 per family.

During recent years, Armenian children, like almost all children all over the world, started asking for presents according to what they see on television.

Lusine Khojoyan , 34, a mother of three, says that nowadays, children choose their toys mainly from TV cartoons. “Basically they want ‘Power Rangers’, their DVDs, masks, and clothes.”

“All of it is quite expensive. For example, the ranger mask cost about 4,000 drams (about $10), which is a lot for a family having an average income. It is good that my sister’s brother has bought presents for my twins, so I will not have to buy new ones. But now they want clothes, and I told them that clothes are not sold, so that they leave me alone, though I am sure that the clothes they want, are sold,” Khojoyan says.

Marine Sharyan, manager of Mankan World of Toys shop confirms what Khojayan says.

“Now there is a big demand for the toys of cartoon and TV serial heroes – transformers, rangers, etc. They, of course, are not produced in Armenia, but we try to satisfy the desires of our consumers, and we sell them (those toys), too,” Sharyan says.

Eight-year-old Alisa Sharafyan, also asked for Transformers from Santa Claus. It is one of the most expensive toys of the season, costing about 4,000-12,000 drams (about $11-$31).

Even though Alisa’s mother is planning to buy the toy, she says that it is quite expensive for a family having average incomes.

Another most favorite New Year wish among children is to see a real Santa Claus. Frida Hakobyan’s 7-year-old daughter has written a letter to the (Armenian) Santa Claus, and asked him to bring “an American Santa Claus”.

“Oh, they asked for so many things (from Santa), they name a new thing every minute. We have already written a letter, so there is no way out. My daughter says, mom, let’s put 1,000 drams (about $2.50) into the envelope so that Santa comes to our house. She does not know that Santa’s visit costs not 1,000 drams, but 20,000 drams (about $50),” Hakobyan says.

This year during holidays buying a half-hour visit from a Santa and a Snow Maiden costs from 15,000-20,000 drams (about $38-$50), and on the New Year eve – up to 100,000 drams (about $260).

However, there are some children who want neither a Santa, nor Transformers; they want a cell phone or a computer, or like Hakob Mkrtchyan, 13, an MP3 player. The teenager says his mobile phone is no longer suitable. “Now I listen to music by my cell phone, but it gets discharged very fast, so I want to have a player to be able to listen to my favorite music,” Hakob says.