December 17, 2007
Santa Claus 2
My father is a member of the local chapter of the Moose Lodge. He invited us to the “Breakfast with Santa” event that the club was hosting, which is just a fancy name for a children’s Christmas party.
We went to the party after church and Dawson was very excited to see Santa Claus for the second time. It was very difficult for him to eat his hashbrowns and toast; he kept listening for Santa’s jingle bells and looking for the slightest glimpse of the jolly man in a red suit.
After several long moments I could sense that my little boy was getting very anxious. My brother Frankie made a pair of “binoculars” out of two Styrofoam cups and that was enough of a distraction until the Claus made his appearance.
My friend, her mom and her kids were also at the party and it was nice to catch up. It seems that the holiday season keeps us too busy to stay in touch like we once did.
When Santa finally arrived, the kids ages 4 and under lined up first. Dawson suddenly became very shy, and when it was his turn, he wouldn’t look at Santa. I’m not sure if this was because it wasn’t the same man we saw at the mall the day before or if it was due to the fact that 50 anxious children were staring at him in the line next to him.
I snapped a photo and Santa gave Dawson a stock with treats and toys inside. I think the Doodlebug liked that part the best.
December 15, 2007
Santa Claus Came to Town
My son has been talking about Santa for days. He tells me every morning that he’s been “a berry good boy” and that Santa Claus is going to bring him “lots and lots of pwesents” and put them under his Christmas tree.
Yes, the tree that he helped me decorate last week does not belong to Mommy or Daddy. It is “Dawson’s Tree”, and he’ll let Murphy sit underneath it because “Mur-see is Dawson’s puppy”.
When Dawson was just a wee baby boy he could have cared less about sitting on Santa’s lap. Whe he was a little over one year old, he started to cry the moment I placed him on the big guy’s lap. At two years old, he screamed as though he was being murdered. In fact, I had to stand next to Santa Claus just to get Dawson to go near him, and he held onto me for dear life. (Photo recap can be found here.)
This morning I was talking to my mom on the phone, and I mentioned that I was taking Dawson to see the jolly fellow at the mall. She asked to speak to Dawson and so I turned on the speaker phone.
“Dawson, are you going to see Santa Claus today?”
“Yeah, Nonna. Santa Cwaus is bwinging Dawson lots of pwesents. He’s gonna put them under Dawson’s Christmas twee. We have a nice twee, Nonna.”
“You’re not going to be scared are you?”
“No, Dawson not scared. Santa Cwaus is Dawson’s fwend.”
“Where is Santa Claus going to be? At the mall?”
“No, Nonna. Santa Cwaus not at the mall. We’re going to the North Paw.”
“The what?”
“Santa Cwaus is at the North Paw, Nonna!”
This is what happens when you let a three-year-old watch the Dora episode about Santa too many times in a row.
I tried to tell him Santa lives at the North Pole, but each and every time he says, “paw”.
It’s actually kind of cute. And surprisingly, Dawson did not scream when he sat by Santa. It took him about ten minutes to warm up to the idea.
Dawson was very excited during the walk from the car into the mall, but once Santa came into sight he got a little shy. He watched the other kids first and he listened intently as they told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
When it was finally Dawson’s turn he said, “Santa, where is your weindeer?”
“Oh, Santa had to leave the reindeer on the farm. We can’t have them get hit by any cars, now, can we?”
“No, Santa. That’s right. The weindeer have to stay on da farm.”
The entire drive home Dawson warned, “Drive careful, Mumma. You gotta watch out so you don’t hit Santa’s weindeer!”
“I’m not scared of Santa, but I’m not going to smile at you either.”
December 14, 2007
Blogging, Shopping, Toys and Politics: It All Goes Hand in Hand
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out my latest Home/Office post at the Imperfect Parent. I wrote about all the Christmas presents I bought online, and I know many of you are very busy with last minute holiday shopping (I suppose it will really be last minute if you wait until the 23rd), and getting things done before the big guy in the red suit arrives.
If you need last minute gift ideas, head over to Cool Mom Picks. Kristen and Liz always have the best ideas for unique (and lead free!) toys your kiddies will love. I’m recommending this stick horse from Green Little Beans. Liz talks about it here, and I ordered one for Dawson the same day. It arrived a few days after Thanksgiving and I couldn’t wait to sneak a peak at the one of a kind (no two are exactly alike), handmade toy. You’ll have to come back here after Christmas to see what it looks like!
Speaking of toys, please click here and send a petition to your State senators, demanding that they pass the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act of 2007. I’ve written a post about this at Moms Speak Up. Please check it out!
And, if you’re in the mood to read about the dullest GOP debate ever, I’ve recapped it over at BlogHer.
Now that I’ve directed you elsewhere, I’m going to head over to your blogs and add my two cents.
Happy Friday!
December 12, 2007
Unveiling the Photo Card…
…and let me just say that posting the words “Christmas”, “photo” and “card” on this blog has caused a gigantic surge in blog traffic! I couldn’t figure out why 350+ people were coming here to look at Christmas photos, but then I went to sitemeter and saw all the search terms, and referral links.
It seems that several hundred web surfers are visiting from MSN, Google and Yahoo! search tools.
Welcome!!
