I love you Santa, but don't come near me.

This year will be Jackson's third Christmas and we had not ever taken him to see Santa, but he now understands a little better who Santa is and what Santa does so we wanted him to experience the magic of sitting on Santa's lap. We know that most young kids flip out at the sight of Santa so we've taken measures to ease Jackson into actually seeing Santa in person. We've been talking a lot about Santa and I have endured "The Polar Express" every day since Thanksgiving because Jackson seems to like when Santa appears on screen. So on Monday we got the kiddos dressed and made it to the mall, talking of Santa all the way. We walked up to Santa's little set up and I was as enthusiastic about it as I could be, "Jackson, it's Santa. Can you believe it? Santa is here!!" I'll admit, I got a little choked up at the thought of my little Jackson perched on Santa's knee telling him the things he would like for Christmas. What a magical thing. I went to save our spot in line only to be told that Santa was about to take a break and wouldn't be back for about an hour. If it had been any other mall, we could have occupied ourselves for that time and come back, but because the Waco mall is less than spectacular we decided to go home and try again the next day. However, we were hopeful that the short glimpse Jackson got of Santa would lessen the anxiety he might experience upon actually meeting him face to face.

Today was take 2 for seeing Santa. Again, we got the kiddos to the mall, talking of Santa all the way. There was a bit of a line so we had some extra time to get Jackson prepared. We even got to enjoy some man made snow while waiting. There came a point as we were nearing the front of the line that Santa made eye contact with Jackson and waved. We knew this was a test as to how the next few minutes would unfold and his reaction was not reassuring. He wanted nothing to do with Santa. He basically ignored him. However, I still held onto a bit of optimism that Jackson would think Santa was great and want to sit and chat with him a while. When it was finally our turn, Santa's helper came to let us in. We took one step inside the barrier and my optimism went out the window. Jackson immedialty clung to Chad with a grip I haven't ever seen and a look of horror took over his sweet face. I plopped Caroline down on the fat man's lap and tried to convince Jackson to do the same. He wasn't having it, though. Chad did his best to release the unwilling 2 year old and asked the photographer, "How fast can you take the picture?". Bless her, she tried distracting him with her array of noise making toys, but he wasn't having any of it. With arms outstretched and screaming, his first picture with Santa was taken - forever locked in history. At least he didn't blink.

Merry Christmas everyone! May your days be merry and bright!!