Visit with Santa 2011

It’s that time of year again where Santa has come to town to hear all the little boys and girls requests, not matter how large or small.  He parks his reindeer, grabs his bag of yummy goodies and maybe even takes a gulp of hot cocoa before sitting down in his oversized red velvet chair to greet hundreds of wide eyed children.  Unfortunately some of the wide eyes are eyes of fear and tears and no one was a more perfect example then our little Mary Tuesday when it was her turn to see Santa.

Yep, you guessed it, Mary was TERRIFIED of Santa!  The terror came quickly and most unexpectedly.  She was just waiting patiently in her Pooh Bear umbrella stroller with her big brother by her side, she even waved to Santa at one point; then it was her turn and she just lost it.  I went to unbuckle her from her stroller and I hear “No, No, NO, NO, NOOOOO!” Sam on the other hand had practically ran to sit on Santa’s lap while Mary was left behind leaping into daddy’s arms full of sobs and dread.  She wouldn’t even take her head of daddy’s shoulder to even look at Santa.  So daddy strapped her back in her stroller and away they went.  As daddy strolled away, giggling at his daughter’s dread, Sam just sat up on Santa’s lap rambling off his requests.  High priority on the toy list this year is a remote control car. 

Now, we’ve seen Santa two times prior to this visit in hopes of dispelling any sort of apprehensions the kids may have,  get familiar with Santa so that we wouldn’t have tears on the day we dressed up and took the official Santa picture.  Can we say BACKFIRE!? Well each time Sam saw Santa he always a bit shy, putting his fingers in his mouth and talking almost inaudibly all the while wrapped up in excitement to tell Santa his toy list. 

As a side note; the first time Sam saw Santa he said he wanted a remote control car but then the two following requests got weird, I think out of nervousness.  He mentioned he wanted a dancey guy (which I knew was this dancing elf he saw at Home Depot) and a horse.  A horse!?!?! Really? A horse?!?!?! Second time we met Santa he opened with wanting a remote control car and the rest was too faint to hear due to other kids nearby.  Third time, this past Tuesday, he said again he wanted a remote control car, 5 cars and 2 ramps? Aaaah, the idea’s that run through a 4 year olds mind.  I even found an app on my phone that “calls Santa” directly and you can leave a message for him and he mentioned the 5 cars and 2 ramps.  We’ll see if Grandpa can whip something up.

So we left the mall with a picture of Sam smiling on Santa’s lap, a sobbing toddler girl and two disheartened parents.  But we figured maybe she was just tired and we’d try again when Grandma and Grandpa came the next day. 

So when grandma and grandpa arrived yesterday we left for the mall immediately to get there right at 10am.  Well everyone must have had that thought as the line was about 50 people long.  So to keep things (or I should say kids) under control, grandma and grandpa walked them around the mall a few laps.  After about 20 minutes in line we were next.  I had grandma and grandpa stand over to the side of the Santa exhibit and when it was time for the kids to sit with Santa we did a “Mary handoff”.  Before Mary knew what was going on the handoff was made, I immediately felt arms squeeze my next and screeches of fear emit from my babe’s mouth.  Once we reached Santa’s lap I placed her in his arms and the wiggling to be free began.  I coaxed her into sitting still and Santa helped with his friendly “Hello” and Sam even chimed in with an “It’s ok Mary, Santa loves us”.  After about 3-4 minutes, she calmed down, relaxed and even smiled long enough to get a good photo!

So after two days, many tears and a few screams of sheer terror we had achieved success! Its times like these I’m thankful I started up my blog once again.  These are the memories we tend to forget and that I’ll children will love to hear once they’re older. 

Merry Christmas and God Bless

~Andrea

P.S. Here’s our successful Santa picture!