On Friday, a friend of mine was taking her two daughters to visit Santa who was making an appearance at a local kids boutique store. For lack of anything better to do on Friday morning and to hang out with some other moms, I decided to take the boys over and check it out.

When we got there, there were maybe 5 or 6 other child/mom pairs. All were little girls and all were sitting so peacefully on their mom’s laps while Santa was starting to read “‘Twas the Night Before . . .”. I pulled up my double wide stroller with my two safely and firmly buckled inside. Santa greeted us and told us to join the circle.

“Uh, thanks, Santa, but I think they’ll stay in the stroller for now.”

The little girls all seemed to have lovely little outfits on, specially chosen for their visit with Santa. Meanwhile, my kids had on whatever I could grab and put on them that morning as they screeched and wrestled me to get away. Daniel’s hair was going in all different directions. I actually did try to put some gel on a cow lick to hold it down. I tried to get a few last minute nose and face wipes in when they were pinned in their car seats before we went into the mall.

While Santa is reading the story, Daniel immediately spots the snacks and starts loudly requesting things. Hoping that a juice box might keep him quiet for Santa to finish, I handed one over. Daniel sucked it down and asked for the “blue one.” One juice box was enough as he was already bouncing up and down in his stroller seat, but he moved on to cookie requests.

I tried to keep him quiet by whispering things in his ear which kind of worked, as long as Andrew wasn’t trying to swat the back of his head or pull on his seat back.

Anyway, after story-time was over, I let Daniel get down and run around. He had no interest in Santa, but I coerced him into having his picture taken. He wanted nothing to do with going up to Santa on his own, so I corralled him while another mom got Andrew into place. So, here’s our pic. Santa assured us moms that his knees are very strong. Good to know.

Yes, Phia met Santa this past weekend. It wasn’t planned, I didn’t plan to take her at all, it just happened. Phia and I were at the mall and there was Santa. She said something about Santa, though I’m not sure who actually *told* her about him. Believe it or not, there wasn’t a line. So I figured, heck, why not?!

We walked through the entrance, and approached Santa. Not surprisingly, Phia was scared and refused to get too close to him. (Oh, and I opted NOT to get the picture taken and lose, er, I mean, pay the money.) What was surprising was Santa’s reaction to her. He was VERY friendly. He even had a real beard. He tried to engage her in conversation. But she wouldn’t go for it. She did, however, take the stickers that he offered. (Side note: Whatever happened to the candy canes you used to get? I wanted a candy cane, not some stinking stickers!! Good thing Phia likes stickers…)

I expected to hear all about Santa from that point on. Surprisingly, I’ve only heard one comment since then. I’m not even sure she knows what Santa does. To her, he’s just this big, jolly guy that’s actually a bit intimidating in person. And I’m kind of glad she hasn’t asked. I plan to tell her the truth, I mean, the story, but I just want one more Christmas of pure innocence before we move into that.

I wonder if she’ll ask why we hang stockings, or decorate a Christmas tree? (Assuming we get around to doing those things before the season is over.)

Santa Claus ★ North Pole ★ Merry Christmas!

Some cool stuff and who knew Santa has e-mail?

Saint Nicholas ::: Discovering the Truth About Santa Claus