Old Saint Nick

I consider the whole visiting Santa and sitting on his lap to be one of the hilarities of childhood. I myself have quite fond memories of the entire experience, including one year in which I kid you not Santa had an actual live CHIMP. The holding of said Chimp was the responsibility of my older sister but I still remember the thrill of sitting near it!! That being said, we made our annual visit to the fat man this year, with the usual trepidation on my part. Somehow we have some terribly shy children who won't just go hopping onto laps. Also , with four kids, odds are someone is going to be crying!!

We arrived early (we were number one in line) and surprise surprise Cubby and Miss H were very enthusiastic. They made plans to chat with Santa about the kind of cookie he preferred, and put the final touches on their letters. There was a small discussion about if Santa would like Soy milk or regular milk.

The big moment arrived, the gate opened... and Cubby and Miss H hopped right up there, huge grins plastered on their faces.. Lil Bit was not impressed by the fat man, and following her return she promptly fell asleep in the punkin seat.

Little Daddy on the other hand.. well take a look for yourself...

Doesn't he look like he's being kidnapped!! Granted, he had made his opinion on the subject perfectly clear. Everytime we mentioned visiting Santa he said quite clearly "NO!" Whatever, the experience is not so much for him as for me, and I found the whole thing quite hilarious.

Post lap sitting, I asked Cubby and Miss H what Santa had said about the cookies and milk, quite sheepishly she looked up at me and said... "Oohh we forgot." They did manage to squeeze in that Cubby would really like a digital camera, and Miss H would like a sewing machine. Little Daddy did not even want a candy cane from Santa, so I suppose he will be satisfied with whatever should happen to appear in his stocking.