Oh, you better watch out...

My sister and I can remember when we were little, in the middle of the summer, one of us would start to act up and Grandma Graham would just start to quietly sing, “Oh, you better watch out…you better not cry….”.  That reminder that the omnipotent Santa was watching us was all that we needed to make us good for goodness sake.  It didn’t matter what time of the year it was.  I like the idea of this sort of psychological weaponry for children.  That’s why I’m fully planning on using this little trick on Elin.  In order to use it though, she also has to know who Santa is, not only that, but she probably needs to meet with him each year.  She can report on her behavior for the past year (or ¾ year in this case) and they can discuss toys and just in general get caught up with each other.  Lucky for us, Santa is taking some time out of his busiest toy production season to hang out at the Park Place Mall.  I hear he really likes the kiosk that sells the crocs. 

So last Sunday we psyched ourselves up enough to brave the mall traffic, mall parking lot, mall people and the mall germs (yes, there were grown adults coughing and sneezing without the slightest concern for covering their mouths.  Where do these people come from?)  We figured that if Santa could make the trip all the way from the North Pole to Tucson, the least we could do would be drive the mall closest to our house.  So we did, and we stood in line, which surprisingly only took about 30 minutes or so.  We got to watch kids meet with Santa, which is always fun because most of them freak out.  A lot of you already know this, but I LOVE pictures of kids crying on Santa’s lap.  It’s just so funny to me because I don’t blame these children one bit.  From a child’s perspective the whole process is just absurd.  The best part about these pictures is that the parents (myself included) go to so much effort for the kids to look nice.  And we’re all standing in line trying to keep the kids clean and picture worthy.  By the time it’s actually your turn there’s so much built up to these few seconds with Santa, and then the kid gets freaked out and just starts wailing, but Santa smiles anyway, making the picture that much funnier.  I love it.  So what does my kid do?  She says, “See ya Mom!  Why hello sir.  My name is Elin and I’d be happy to sit on your lap for a picture if you have a spare moment.”  No crying, not even a wimper.  We got some good pictures and also a long conversation about talking to strangers.  Enjoy!