Spencer was too old to sit on Santa's lap this year. (*sob*)
But Tess knew the drill and wasn't scared at all! She hopped up on Santa's lap like it was nothing!
Josh got in on the action as well, being a smart alec and asking Santa for a baby doll. I'm tempted to fulfill his wish... (Side note: I took these first two pictures on my phone. The rest were taken on the super fancy big ol' camera the ward used. The quality on my phone is so much better! My phone is the best and I lurrrrve it. If I were you I'd ask Santa for one. The end.)
And then there was Cole. Poor Cole. At first I thought he was just being a grumpus about refusing to sit on Santa's lap. But eventually I realized that he was TERRIFIED. It took a while, but we eventually coaxed him to just talk with Santa, no sitting required. (It helped that Santa was giving away activity books. Cole just couldn't stand that Tess had one and he didn't.)
I was right behind him the whole time, with my arms securely around him at his request. My hand was on his chest and I could feel his little heart beating a million miles a minute. He was so scared! That poor, brave kiddo! It was darling and sad all at once. (It must be mentioned that we did not force this - he wanted to see Santa.) ((That's not right. He didn't want to see Santa. He WANTED one of those activity books and was willing to pay the price.))
Although Cole knew exactly what he wanted to ask for Christmas, when Santa asked the magic question "What would you like me to bring you?", Cole froze. It was like that scene in "A Christmas Story". He completely lost the powers of thought and speech!
So I whispered in his ear "A Hot Wheels track" and he was able to blurt that out. After that his little shoulders relaxed and he wasn't quite as tense. No way was he getting any closer to that dangerous man in the red suit, but he had fulfilled his mission.
Oh Mr. Cole. Life with you is certainly interesting. How can a boy who shows no fear (or common sense) when out on the playground be so afraid of an old guy? How can a boy who is NO respecter of persons (especially authority figures) lose all sense when in the presence of someone who only really factors into our lives one month a year? And, most importantly, how can I use this newly discovered fear to keep you in line, at least for the next couple of weeks until Christmas? (Just kidding.) ((Kind of.))
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