2015 Day 19 - Man in Red

Even though I'm a BIG believer in Santa and get sad every year that PJ doesn't have the same feelings I do about the big guy, I decided that this year I would not try to get him to sit with Santa.

Other than the 1st year, it has been so traumatic on both of us that I just needed a break.  He's 9 (a very YOUNG 9) and soon the window of actually liking Santa will be gone.  Once they started setting up the Santa display at the mall, he said he didn't want to see him and just send a letter.  I told him that I wouldn't take him to Santa unless he wanted to.  We had taken him to a Sensitive Santa at a small mall as well as at his therapy provider, but this year I explained that unless he wanted to see Santa, we weren't going.

He was happy with that, but a little on edge that I'd still try to make him go...but I didn't.  He quickly decided what he wanted in early November and we sent out his letter to seal the deal.  He doesn't understand why the kids all line up to see him when they could just send a letter...not only do they wait in a boring line, but they also have to sit with Santa.

I did get him to watch his arrival for a few of his photo shifts at any mall we were at.  He even requested to watch him arrive a couple of times.  He is excited to see him come but is so scared that Santa will catch his eye and/or wave/talk to him.

What I noticed is that he IS excited, he DOES have the thrill seeing Santa, he does believe, he does have positive memories of Christmas and Santa...just in his own way and its taken a lot of years, but I'm OK with that.

I did manage to get a photo of him sneaking around our tree on Christmas morning though...

Here's a video message from Santa:

2014 Day 19 - Man in Red

For some reason, when I read this title, it took me back to my 1st year working at Price Waterhouse in 1990 (or maybe it was 1991).  At that time, they had a kid's Christmas party (why, I don't know...because there weren't too many with young kids).  Anyway, I digress....there was some rule that 2 of the new students had to be Santa's Elves and help with the kid's party.  There were lots of girls that started that year and being that I was the SHORTEST (even though also the oldest) of the group, it was pretty much a given that I had to be one of the elves.

I was concerned that it would be a tarty outfit, but thankfully it wasn't ... and I actually can't remember what it looked like and I never did see a photo...so that's good (and bad).  Back then, I only weighed about 95 lbs...so it wouldn't have been too traumatic (although, I'm sure that at the time, I thought I was a complete whale).  The only thing that I recall is that it was fun and we didn't do much...but that was my one and only time working with the man in red (other than doing all the stocking stuffer shopping, wrapping and stocking-stuffing).

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This year, on Dec 19, was the last day of school before the Christmas break.  I dropped off the candy cane cards & high-tailed it to the mall for my last walk and purchases before I had PJ under-foot until January.  Right after lunch, the school had caroling in the gym, so I stayed around after the lunch drop-off to join in with the singing.  It was fun because I sat right on the floor, in the middle of the grade 3's.  Even though the words were projected for the kiddos to sing from, most of them didn't have a clue how the songs went...so I just sang my little lungs out (as best I could because I was getting a cold and it was the start of losing my voice).

After leaving them for their party, I went for a relaxing Chai Tea Latte & cranberry bliss...my last relaxing treat before the crazy week ahead.

2013 Day 19 - Man in Red

I don't remember what I thought about Santa when I 1st went to see him, but even without a picture, I know that I screamed my head off.  I was (and still am) extremely shy even with people I know.  Apparently once my brother arrived on the scene, HE started crying and I was ok (LOL).

We'd always make sure that what we wrote in our Christmas letter was the same as what we told Santa - the Santa ask was always the crucial gift...especially after Hobo the cat arrived that morning when I was in Grade 2, we KNEW that if there was a gift we really wanted and our parents were not interested in...the only way to get it was through the Man in Red!

I remember one year when we were reading the note left by Santa for Christmas morning, that I thought the printing looked like my fathers.  The next year, we saw a new tv show - "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" - WELL - it was loaded with facts that only SANTA would know, so I set to write a big list of questions for Santa to answer while he was munching on cookies and milk.  LOL!  Of course, Santa being Santa, he KNEW all the answers about his life, so I was still on the fence, because that definitely was Dad's handwriting! 

I can't remember if I figured it out then or a bit later or if we just continued believing or maybe Mom just said one day....I really hate buying stocking stuffers.

I DO know that the Polar Express gets me crying every time I watch it, as does watching the kids see Santa arrive for his 1st photo shoot of the season and I find myself waving to him myself!