Santa Baby

I had pretty high hopes for seeing Santa this year.... but Macey just wasn't ready.

On Tuesday morning, Jimmy agreed that it would be a great day to see Santa. He could work in the area of the mall that morning, meet us for a quick visit, and be back on the road for work. So Macey and I arrived to see Santa a few minutes early so that she could see how this whole Santa thing goes down. We watched several other kids sit on Santa's lap and Santa even looked over and waved to us! Macey kept saying "Macey's turn now" while shaking her head up and down. I tried to build her excitement while we waited for Jimmy and throughly explained how she would sit on Santa's lap, say "Ho Ho Ho or Merry Christmas" and smile for a picture. She seemed ready, even excited, when we walked her up to see the jolly old man. As soon as we got close enough to put her on Santa's lap, she started hiding behind my legs and crying, "no!" I felt so bad for her that I  couldn't hand her over to Santa and run for a picture. I quietly accepted that I would be in the Santa picture this year (and kicked myself for not getting ready that morning) and asked Jimmy to join us.

Of course, she loved the hat Santa gave her, in lieu of a candy cane, and was back to her happy self once we left Santa. In fairness, it is a strange thing to ask a child so young to do. I'm sure she thought it was a situation like nursery where we would drop her and run. And Santa is really big, with a huge beard and boots and gloves... I don't blame her for being skeptical!

Next year we will be ready! With baby sister in tow, I'm sure Macey will sit with Santa and smile like a little angel!