Pros:
- I managed to get her to sit on Santa's lap for the first time ever!
- Without screaming!
- And she told him what she wanted for Christmas!
- And she made small talk with him!
- I didn't have to take her to see Santa 14 different times in order to build up a tolerance for bushy white bearded strangers.
- She's the one who suggested we go to the mall so she could talk to Santa today. Wha? Since when?
- We ran errands afterward and several people noticed her dress. She had to tell each of them in detail about visiting Santa and what she said and what he said and how great it was.
Cons:
- Her expression sort of looks like she's visiting Santa Claus, Nightmare Proctologist.
- She wants a Sleeping Beauty dress for Christmas, which is not sitting in a bag in the back of my closet with the rest of her presents (yet).
- Least charismatic Santa in the midwest.
- I did have to prep her for the experience by taking her to look at the Santa near my in-law's house from about 50 feet away, and taking her to look at this Santa once or twice from increasingly closer distances, and time it so that Santa was at lunch when we got there so we had time to wait in line with the other kids and get used to the idea of the Lap of Santa.
- $25 for a CD of the picture so I could post on the blog.
- And I might have kind of told her that if she'd sit on Santa's lap and get a pretty picture taken, I'd let her ride the train at the mall and buy her the $4 folding brush she's been pining for from the Disney Store. So much for that stocking stuffer.
For comparison ... here's 2007's Santa photo from preschool:
And here's 2006's Santa photo from the mall in Lexington:
(sitting on my lap, not Santa's, although it really looks like it's his, doesn't it?)
4 comments:
Can't believe the legs on that girl! She is great. K's mom
The joys of a little maturity
Your child is adorable.
However, I disagree with the "greatest mom ever" title. If you were the greatest Mom ever, you might think twice before:
1. Unnecessarily subjecting your child to what she clearly considers to be a potentially traumatic experience.
and
2. Participating in the whole "Santa Lie" to begin with.
"Unnecessarily subjecting your child to what she clearly considers to be a potentially traumatic experience"?
Dude, have you read any of my blog? She considers EVERYTHING a "potentially traumatic experience." Breathing, getting out of bed, taking a shower, eating anything other than mac-n-cheese, eating mac-n-cheese, going to school, not going to school, going to dance class, not going to dance class, going to a friend's house, having friends come to visit, seeing her grandparents, not seeing her grandparents, making cookies, playing bingo, watching the Tinkerbell movie ... and that's just in the past week or two.
I view my job as providing the support she needs to step past her comfort level when she's ready, which is what she did with the trip to Santa. She said she wanted to do it, even though she was "a little bit concerned" about it, and she never waivered once she made her decision. And I consider that a triumph.
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