Pictures with Santa Claus

We've been prepping Pixie all week to see the real-deal Santa Claus at our church Christmas party tonight and she was a jumble of excitement. Pixie put on her special Christmas dress and practiced what she was going to say to the jolly old elf in order to make the best impression possible.

Santa showed up just before dinner and settled himself in an armchair outside the main dining room. He was an older gentleman from our church with good bone structure for the job and looked great in his thick red suit and full beard. We were the first ones in line. "Do you want to sit on Santa's lap, honey?" Pixie gave me that big blue-eyed stare and gaped at him, horrified. Santa was enormous and ready to stuff her into his bag and pack her back to the North Pole the second I released her hand - nothing at all like the cute little 2" Santa toy she played with at home. It was all I could do to get her to sit in his lap and you can see from the picture how excited she was about that.

We beat a hasty retreat. But she did spend the rest of the evening wanting to go and stare grimly at Santa, just so long as we didn't get within grabbing distance. It's funny to me how some things look so terribly good on paper but once you've experienced the real deal, they lose some of the magic. The picture sums it all up.

Comments

Robyn said…
heh. First lesson in life: things rarely are as they seem. Funny how I didn't put that together until I read this story. OUr mothers have had us in training since we were very small! Maybe that's how the legend conitnues. ;-)

It is good to see your ward has not gone the way of the naysayers. I like Santa and I would hate for him to disappear completely from our church parties.
Anonymous said…
I agree, never thought about it like that before. Cute pic though; I'm sure she'll treasure it later. Is she still traumatized today?

What happened to your psycho neighbor post?
Anonymous said…
I remember when my DAD used to play Santa. Or he'd have my Uncle Don get dressed up and come and make a personal house visit. We were thrilled. Then one year for Family Home Evening, when most of us were 'on' to the scheme, he talked about how Santa was used as a tool of the Devil to distract from the true story of Christ. My little brother Phil, who was about 8 at the time, sat and listened. Later, he went into his room, which was right behind the wall of the living rom where he'd had our family lesson. I could hear his sobs through the wall. I guess he wasn't quite 'there' yet....
Anonymous said…
This picture is PRICELESS!!
Samantha said…
Her face is perfect. Honestly though I remember totally being afraid of stuff like that. Terrifying.
Th. said…
.

Whose idea was this Santa character, anyway?
dalene said…
That is a classic! She'll feel differently about Santa, however, if he is really good to her on Christmas morning...
Anonymous said…
I totally feel for Penny...Santa freaked me out pretty much every year, and I always dreaded having to sit on his lap.
Unknown said…
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Unknown said…
She has the prettiest hair color I have ever seen and those eyes! Oh my goodness, those eyes!
Sarah said…
Yeah, she was lucky to get those gorgeous blue eyes from Dad.

Come to think of it, I think I was making this same exact face the first time I went through the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland. Talk about creepy!

As far as the disappearance of the neighbor post, I think you all know why I took that one down. The risks were just too great! Plus, I'm married to a lawyer and am well aware of the potential slander suit I could get into.
Janell said…
Yeek! 80s bangs. I wish I hadn't been cursed with the same bangs as a child. It took me years to get rid of them.

She is an adorable kid =)

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