Meeting Santa

Our kids all got to meet Santa at Mark's work Christmas dinner! He makes an appearance every year, with a small gift for each kid there. They all sit on the floor and he calls for them by name when it's their turn to get a present. (Very little house on the prairie, no?)

It was Charlotte's first time seeing Santa, and she did great. Meaning, she was completely clueless and then fussed a little. Santa brought her a book about Jesus. She wasn't thrilled about the incarnation in board book form. We'll work on that.

Nathan was super nervous (you'll remember his Santa terror from last year) and had spent the weeks beforehand avoiding Santa wherever possible, but on this night he put his brave face on and talked to him about the train tracks he was longing for, and also where the sleigh was parked. So proud of him for doing something social, even when he was nervous!  That is a very big deal for him. (And he was pretty excited that Santa brought him two new friend cars.)

And then there was Anneliese.  Oh, Anneliese.

She spent most of the time sitting in my lap looking scared. And then when he called her name, she went to get the present, but frantically backtracked when Mark offered to lift her into his lap. She took the present, said thank you through her tears, and then fled the scene, sobbing.

(Everyone laughed.  We had That Kid.)

She got some bright neon socks which she does like, but mostly she was happy to climb back into my lap and eat her candy cane.

They each need a t-shirt that says I Survived Santa 2011, right?