Santa's Lap

My 3 little kids know Santa.  They watch the Santa Claus 1, 2, and 3 movies numerous times each December.  They have it all figured out!  Abbey has taken a guess that the Santas at the malls are obviously not the "real Santa" but helpers or elves dressed up.  Because we have Buddy taking all our messages straight to the North Pole, she wasn't too concerned with seeing Santa.  But Layne is another story.  She has been begging to sit on Santa's lap.  She has promised me, in her 2-year-old language, that she won't cry...he's not scary.  She goes crazy each time we are at the mall and we catch a glimpse of his snowy white beard and red suit.  We have hit long lines and the dreaded "gone on break" sign each time we have attempted, so I thought we would just see the Atlanta, Georgia Santa.

This is as close as we got!  This 2 year old may never speak to me again!  As we practically skipped through the empty line dividers, I was abruptly stopped by the guy who was in charge, who was sadly not wearing the red suit.  I got up to speed quickly.  I had to have an appointment to see Santa.  The only "walk-in" days were Fridays and Saturdays, and I could expect to wait up to 5 hours on those days.  Every Santa in the state operated the same and I would have to go home and call the appointment line to have a shot at sitting on Santa's lap before Christmas.  Seriously.  I had no idea that Santa had gone union!  More importantly, I had no idea how my kids were going to see Santa with just a few days before Christmas.  Sean and Ashley thought the appointment Santa was as crazy as we did, so Ashley came up with a plan!  She works at the Forum and had spotted a great Santa there, with Mrs. Claus and a sleigh.  With no advertised appointments necessary we headed up there.

and this little one got to sit on Santa's lap!  No tears!  A little bit of a concerned look, but that didn't keep her from hopping in the sleigh!

and then we all really wanted to hop in the sleigh too!