Santa....

Hayden has an interesting relationship with this guy, Santa. Last year she really had no clue about the whole thing, or so we thought. Then, in June I got her a Fisher Price Noah's Ark and she immediately identified Noah as "Santa". No amount of discussion or correction can change this. He is Santa. Now we're in the season of non-stop, neck deep Santa mayhem. We don't spend time in malls (even before the whole "Swine Flu" scare, we weren't big fans, but now the idea of hanging out in a petri dish of sneeze is even less appealing).

I explained the concept of Santa a few weeks ago, "be good.... keeping track....will bring something, maybe, depending on what you ask for, if you're good....". I asked Hayden what she'd like, and after thinking for quite a while she announced that she'd like "nunus and butter" (noodles and butter). I'm all about her shooting low. Of course, the fact that the only real choices she gets these days invlove what she eats and what book she reads before bed may have something to do with it.

But, last Thursday, we went to the annual Christmas lighting in downtown Exeter. We decided early on that we weren't going to wait in line to see Santa, since Hayden really didn't seem to care and the "terror to fun" ration just didn't seem likely to be in our favor. But, while we were waiting lin line for a hay ride, we saw Hayden's friend Ryan in line for Santa, and we went over to say "hi". In a very "Christmas Story" moment, Hayden was taken by the hand by an Elf and escorted up the stairs to Santa before she even had a chance to process the whole thing (or myself for that matter). The Elf explained that Santa was in a hurry and really didn't have much time, but he could say a quick "hello" (Santa is on a very tight schedule these days). To Hayden's credit, she didn't cry. She just clung to me looking pretty horrified by the whole experience. That is, until it was all over.

When we were done, she ran to Brian (who was still in line for the hayride) and announced that she had seen Santa.
"Did you talk to Santa?" Brian asked.
"Uh, hu," Hayden said excitedly. "I ask Santa Dollhouse."
"A dollhouse?" (This was so not on our radar).
"Uh, hu. Santa bring dollhouse."

I hope Santa was listening.