Tuesday, December 04, 2012

This is way better than when Adriana used to scream at him

When Adriana heard that Lyra got to see Santa Claus without her, she was not amused. I made vague promises about "soon" and "later in the week," and then realized that with Adriana's swim lesson canceled that afternoon, we didn't really have any plans, so we headed off to see Santa again.

It turns out he does his afternoon shift at a different mall. And that he changed his clothes (and also his beard) since we'd seen him. But again there wasn't a line, and he spent lots of time chatting with them. Lyra was a little reluctant, as I knew she would be in the afternoon, and even Adriana clung to my hand at first, but he started singing "All I Want For Christmas" to Adriana and asking Lyra how high she could jump, and soon he led them over to his bench and read them a story.


He got them onto his lap and we got a couple of smiles out of them.


And then as the woman taking the photos was showing me what she'd gotten, we heard giggles, and turned to look. The girls had discovered that Santa's beard was tickly and were cracking up. The woman picked up the camera and started snapping photos again. 


Finally, he asked what they'd like for Christmas. Adriana requested a baby doll and "lots and lots of legos." Lyra asked for a flying hockey stick. I guess she figures that will have to do until she's big enough for a rocket.



PS: I like the Blogger now lets you click on the photos to see them bigger.

Monday, December 03, 2012

If only he could see one of her tantrums instead

I wasn't planning to take Lyra to visit Santa while Adriana was in school today, but I had to return something at the mall, and he waved to her when we walked by, and she wanted to go say hi. She was, conveniently, wearing a candy cane dress, and I started to think it might be a good photo op. There was no line, so she walked right up to him and did a little dance, then a somersault.

"What a talented young lady you are! Do you want to tell me what you'd like for Christmas?" he asked her, and she walked closer to him. He held out his hands to her, and she let him scoop her onto his lap.

"I want an owl," she told him.

"An owl?"

She nodded. "A toy one. And a rocket ship."

"A toy owl and a toy rocket ship."

"No, a real rocket ship. I am an astronaut but I don't have a rocket ship, so I need one."

He somehow talked her into considering waiting for a real rocket ship until she was a little bit bigger, and then she smiled for the camera. As I was paying for the photo (which I had to get as I've never had a kid actually sitting on Santa's lap and giving a genuine smile before) a few minutes later, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Santa coming over talk to me.

"She's a charmer," he told me in a low voice. "Good luck with that one."