Last Thursday, Claire and I went to visit Santa for the very first time. You can read about why we haven’t gone in the past by clicking here. This year, I roped our Moms’ Club members into joining me in line. I thought that this way, even if Claire didn’t want to sit on the big guy’s lap, at least we’d have a fun day at the Mall with our friends.
All week, in preparation for our little field trip, Claire and I talked about Santa. We talked about how some kids are scared to sit on his lap, and that’s okay. We talked about how Momma would be right there, and it would be just fine for her to sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. I played it up as super-exciting, but not big deal, which is a tightrope I’ve learned to walk pretty well these days.
The day arrived, and Claire insisted on wearing her party dress, AND her sparkly shoes. “Santa will love my sparkly shoes!” she kept shouting as she ran around like a crazy person.
As we pull into the Mall parking lot, Claire keeps seeing random strangers walking toward the building. “Is that Santa? I don’t think that’s Santa. I wonder if Santa is here already, Momma? Is he here already?” she’d ask with such excitement that it was hard to contain my own excitement.
“I bet Santa is already in there! I bet he’s getting ready to talk to the children now! This is going to be so much fun!” I told her, but she was too excited to really pay attention to my answer.
As we walked through the Mall and found our friends, I reminded her that it was okay to be a little scared of Santa. She told me she wasn’t afraid, and she couldn’t wait to meet him. I was hoping that was the case.
Now, call me a cheater or a scrooge, but I had no desire to pay an inflated price on the “Santa and Me” portraits, or whatever they call them, at the mall. I’d asked one of my friends who had gone to this particular location in the past if personal cameras were allowed, and she assured me that they were.
When we get there, I see the signs that indicate where to line up, and on the sign is a message that says, basically, “We respectfully ask that you not take personal photographs.” Hmpf. I’m a rule-follower. I usually follow rules to the T. (Even though there isn’t a T in Rules, but I digress.) The last thing I want to do is be tossed out of the Santa Line for taking photos with my digital camera…but still! I don’t want to pay their prices, and unless the rules have changed, personal photos were allowed last year and every previous year. I mean, technically the sign didn’t say it was prohibited…just that it was being respectfully asked of us, and if given a chance, I may have to respectfully decline. 
I can see other children with Santa, and their parents have digital cameras, so I decide to go with the flow. I put the camera around my neck, fully intending to take photos up to that point and then play it by ear.
I took some cute photos of Claire and her friends waiting in line and petting the stuffed reindeer and looking at all of the holiday lights. As the line winds around through the evergreens, we’re almost to the end! It’s almost our turn! Claire is getting more and more excited about seeing Santa, and I’m a mixed bag of emotions: Will she do it? Can I take pictures of it? Will either of us cause a scene?
As we get to the front of the line, a nice Elf starts to check us in. She asks if we’d like to have a photo package today. I couldn’t lie to her. She had pointy ears…and rosy cheeks…and a cute green hat.
“No,” I said sheepishly. “I’m not interested in the photo packages.”
She looked at the camera around my neck and said with a fake “pretend I’m not telling you to break the rules or I’ll lose my job” smile and said, “Well, you’re not obligated to actually buy any of the photos we take.” And she winked at me!
Then, she continued. “But, if you allow us to take photos, no one will care if you snap a couple with your own camera.” And she winked at me again!
So, I smiled at her for the purpose of the security cameras and whispered between clenched, smiling teeth, “So, what you’re telling me is if I agree to the look at the photo packages, I can take photos with my own camera, but I’m not obligated to buy any of the ones you take?”
“That’s right!” she said with a smile…and another wink! Then she added something about having kids in grad school and not wanting to lose her job, but being obligated to tell me company policy. She was good. She could have been a ventriloquist, because to the untrained eye, she was just a smiley happy elf wishing us all good cheer.
“All right!” I said. “You convinced me. I’d love to see your photo packages!”
So, the Elf indicated to the photographer that she had another live one, and he tried desperately to get Claire to smile for the camera.
Claire, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with that silly-dressed man behind the camera. She was there to see the big guy. She hopped up on his lap and proceeded to tell him in great detail what she wanted for Christmas. For weeks, she’s been saying she wanted a Christmas Tree, and since we put that up last week, she’s set her sights on something different. (I won’t give it away, but it rhymes with Dorbie Ball.)
As she’s talking to Santa, I’m clicking as many photos as I can before the Winking Elf changes her mind. That poor camera man tried everything, and Claire kept giving him the most annoyed “please let me talk to the one in charge” looks! I couldn’t wait to see what they got on film.
I finally put him out of his misery and told them I thought we were done. I didn’t want to waste any more of their time, especially since I wasn’t going to be buying any photos. (I kept that last part to myself…)
Claire hopped off Santa’s lap and then proceeded to tell me all about it! She’d talked to him! She’d told him what she wanted! She wasn’t scared, Momma!
After a few minutes, our photos were ready to view on the computer monitors, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Thank goodness I wasn’t relying on these photos! They were a riot! The first one showed Claire scowling at the photographer. The second one had her eyes closed, and the last one was the biggest frown I’ve ever seen! I actually laughed out loud. She’d done it! She’d not only had a great time, but she’d given me the total excuse to not buy any of their photos!
So what about the ones I took?
Click to enlarge: Claire & Santa ~ Check out her Sparkly Shoes!
You can see that she’s mid-sentence, but already giving the photographer the eye. She’s starting to get a little perturbed by the photographer for interrupting her discussion with Santa. And, trust me, she’s not as nervous as she looks in this picture. I was just glad she didn’t burst into tears and that I didn’t get tossed out for taking my own photos.
But, I knew it would be fine. The Elf winked at me…honest.
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