Wednesday, December 22, 2010

One Last Shot

I hadn't planned to take the kids to visit Santa this year. While they enjoyed their visit last year well enough, it didn't seem like that big of a deal to them. Between Jason (our "Elf on the Shelf") and the lists they wrote, I figured we were covered. Danny, however, did not agree. So a few days ago when he mentioned what he was going to tell Santa, I realized that he expected to visit him again. Great. He was really looking forward to this, too, and I could tell it was important to him. So I gritted my teeth, prepared to be jostled among the hoards and stand in line for a long while, all in the name of Christmas spirit.

Fortunately, we lucked out and got to the local mall's jolly elf at a time when there was just one little girl ahead of us. By this time, though she was previously indifferent as to whether or not she spoke with Santa, Clare had decided she needed to chat with him as well. It can't hurt to cover your bases, right? Particularly when an iPod is on the line. They opted to go together, making the process all the more speedy. Danny even presented Santa with one of his increasingly prolific Star Wars drawings, and it was nice that Santa had the time to ask Danny explain it to him.

I think both kids walked away satisfied, though they didn't seem blown away or anything. I guess it just struck them as a necessary step on the way to Christmas morning joy. Once it was accomplished, they were primarily interested in lunch. The apples don't fall far from the tree.

No comments: