Another Santa photo accomplished. If I look back over all the years when I have walked past these monstrous trees, stood by idly while my friend's baby was having her photo taken (and I was still empty armed), or even taken our wee one herself to the shopping centre and stood with other parents, waiting to get their child's photo taken with Santa, I see how much I have changed during the process.
I've always been a bit of a sap for lovely things, getting all dewy over something sweet or endearing. So it's no wonder this has escalated ever since Ellanor died. And now, I can't walk past a shopping centre Christmas tree Santa setup and not get teary-eyed. For joy. The looks on those little mites' faces is so priceless.
I used to actually quite enjoy grabbing a coffee and smiling as I looked on. The gravity of what I was doing would stab me in the guts somewhere around seeing child #5 on Santa's knee, though, and I would wander away when I felt the pain too much.
Then, of course, once our very own LGBB came along, I grappled with whether or not to begin a tradition I wasn't even sure we wanted to prolong/endure. But now that I see her, proudly walking up to Santa to sit with him and be in awe of his.... beardliness.... I'm so glad we have done the Christmas thing with her. For her. She has been so intent on getting to Santa to make this year's request for a little present. And it is so very little. Awww.
The dastardly nature of "The Lie" doesn't factor into it. Not for us. Not yet, at least. We don't use Santa the way my parents used Santa - "if you're not good for the next 365 days, Santa will know and you won't be rewarded with material gain" - but we do make the season a thing of wonder for her. We talk to her about other children who have no toys at all. We encourage her to help us choose a toy (or toys) she no longer has any use for or has grown out of, to leave out for Santa so that he can take them back to his workshop to make into new toys for another little boy or girl.
Reuse, renew, recycle. Yada-yada.
And what did the LGBB tell Santa she wanted this year (hence the beaming Cheshire cat face you see below)? It was a simple request. One easy word:
"Xanadu"
Santa nodded, baffled, as if he knew absolutely what she was going on about - I hadn't the heart to whisper in his ear in front of her and let him know, "You know, the movie. With Sonny and Kira? The same Kira who looks uncannily like Sandy from Grease, which is her other favourite movie. Yeah, the one where she wears rollerskates and those enviable skinny ribbons in her hair."
All you have to do is check out the Recently Played Tracks update on the left side of my blog to witness how many times I've had to endure the soundtrack. We hear it upwards of four times a day. Hey, if it's what lets me get the housework done while she perfects her coming to life out of the wall number, who am I to say no?
