Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year. The day my children and I go to the mall to see Santa. We’ve done it every year and the funny thing is that I, being rather frugal (okay cheap) never bought the ‘photo’ with Santa until Charles turned 18. For some reason I thought that year would be the last time that he’d go along with it all. Turns out, I was wrong. Our tradition is going strong and this year at ages 22, 20 and 15 they all sat on Santa’s lap, told him what they wanted for Christmas and got their picture taken.
And my soul is happy.
As a homeschooling family years ago, we’d choose a date that we thought would net the smallest crowds for setting out to shop for daddy, see Santa and go out for lunch. As the kids grew older and situations changed we’d always reserve one day for our annual outing. Now we adjust around work schedules, college finals and high school but we nevertheless always find a day to spend together. And we always go out for lunch, shop for Steve and see Santa.
A couple of years ago we went to Target to shop for Steve. He is a little nerdy at times. But hey, who doesn’t love a nerd? He likes little gadgets and quirky flashlights and things. Our favorite one to mock him over is the little ‘over the ear’ flashlight that looks like it wants to be a Bluetooth headset when it grows up. Anyway, somehow we ended up in the isle with all sorts of just the types of gadgets the kids mercilessly tease Steve for liking. There was much hooting and laughing as they found the geekiest items possible, each choosing one they thought they could get the most mileage out of. Regaling Steve with the stories of the party we had in the isle at Target was almost as much fun as the actual party in the isle at Target!
So, yesterday we made our annual trip. We had to wait for Parker to finish his last final exam and Anna had to skip a couple of periods of school but we made it to the mall and stopped to see how long we’d have to wait to see Santa. We were told Santa was on a break. If the dude can fly around the whole world in one night does he really need a potty break? Regardless, he was on a break and would be back at 2:15. But, I was told we could get an express pass which would allow us to get in line at 2:00. That seemed odd to me. Couldn’t I stand in line whenever I wanted? Whatever. I got the pass and we headed off to the food court for lunch. Boys to Panda Express. Girls to Paradise Café. We ate our lunch, told stories, laughed and had a wonderful time. When we finished we headed out to see our guy, Santa!
When we got to Santa’s village the line was short and we were greeted by a cute young man in Lederhosen. Charles had been complaining earlier that he didn’t like his current job and I suggested that he apply for a job as one of Santa’s helpers and he too could wear Lederhosen. He didn’t find me helpful. But as we were standing in line one of the helpers came up and told me that I needed to go to the elf desk and get an express pass. I said I already had one. He asked for what time. I handed it to him and said 2:00. He looked at it and said we were late. So, I told him we were having lunch at 2:00 and then I added, “You’re a cocky little elf, aren’t you?”
Being somewhat used to unpredictable and inappropriate things coming out of my mouth, my children began to laugh. Elf man didn’t seem all that amused but he did smile and pretended to find me funny. He walked away and the kids began to make up scenarios in which we never get to the front of the line to see Santa because the Lederhosen police always find a way to let others go in front of us as punishment for my bad behavior.
In reality, the wait to see Santa was relatively short. When we reached the front I asked the cocky little elf if he realized I was only joking. He assured me he knew I was joking and that what I said was far and away much less offensive than what some parents had said to him who were not joking! That made me feel sorry for him so I asked him if I could have my picture taken with him. We posed for the photo and I invited his Lederhosen look-alike to pose with us. He then asked if the photo would show up on Facebook. I said yes and asked if he wanted to sign a waiver. He said no and he was pretty sure he was already all over Facebook. In Lederhosen. That made me feel sorry for him all over again. I was hoping his photo was with small children and not a lot of cougars who have a thing for young men in Bavarian dress.
It seemed a humbling job.
Anyway, the kids went in to sit on Santa’s lap and Santa was a jokester and told Charles a political joke. We had some fun banter with Old St. Nick and then went on our merry way. We did a little shopping before ending our day of fun.
I love that my children make that day together a priority. I love that they cheerfully oblige me by sitting on Santa’s lap. I love that when one of Charles’s friends asked him what he was doing that day he told him he was going to the mall to sit on Santa’s lap. I love his friend’s response even more! “Dude, really?” I love the photo that results from our outing and I love the memories made each year. I love the laughter. I love the relationships. I love my children. That one day per year is the best gift I can ever hope to have.
I hope the cocky Lederhosen clad elf man/boy’s mother is as blessed as I.
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