So We Meet Again, Santa
A couple of weekends ago, Santa came to town. This is the same Santa that we visited last year in my mom and dad’s neighborhood. He’s one of their neighbors who, once he’s decked out in red and white, is a pretty darn convincing St. Nick. He’s even married to a Mrs. Claus look-alike.
Last year we (we = Clara) barely got a few feet from Santa before getting scared, so we were cautiously optimistic about how this year would go. It helped to watch cousin Emanuel sit on his lap like a champ.
But when it was our turn we still clung to mommy hardcore.
Fortunately Santa is a pro at breaking the ice with shy children. He politely introduced himself…
… and complimented Clara’s furry boots.
And sure enough, she eventually loosened her grasp on Mommy and this happened. Victory!
Although I’m not sure Clara was feeling quite victorious.
Even if Clara wasn’t giddy to be so close to Santa, we were happy there weren’t tears or a meltdown. She just quietly slipped out of his lap after a few moments and whispered a quiet thank you once she’d gotten a safe distance away. And then as soon as she heard there were crafts, she was right back to her excited, constantly-jumping-up-and-down self.
It was really nice of the neighborhood to put this whole thing together for the various kids and grandkids that live/visit there. We must’ve missed the crafts last year (or maybe it’s new this time around), but Clara had a great time decorating various felt and foam objects with stickers. Here she is making a gingerbread ornament.
This ornament now sits proudly on our tabletop tree. You can see that she “redesigned it” at some point. The bow kinda became sunglasses, I think…
After craft time was over, we all gathered ’round Santa again for a quick story and a snack. That Santa really knows how to show these kids a good time.
How’d your Santa encounters go this year? Any tears? Or funny requests? Clara asked Santa for “ice cream and some eggs.” Hilarious, no?
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That’s a nice looking Santa. Where is this done? Looks like it can be someone’s home.
It’s at the community center in my parents’ neighborhood.
-John
No kidding…that guy is a super convincing Santa! He’s even got rosy cheeks, ha.
I love Clara’s look of skepticism in that 2nd picture on Santa’s lap.
I can’t believe she asked for eggs and she got them!!
Omg,,,,she seriously asked for eggs and got them . too cute!!
Squee! Look at all that hair! She’s precious. Also wanted to say that I found your book under the tree this morning and I am loving it. So much content, I am shocked at how full it is. Can’t wait to really dig in.
Aw thanks so much Sara! So glad you’re enjoying it!
xo
s
I found the book under the tree too! I’ve been going post-it flag CRAZY marking all the things I want to make. I think I’m going to treat myself to one project a month (or $50 a month toward project costs) and see what I can accomplish this year.
Aw that’s amazing! I love it!
xo
s
What a lovely set up, you are very fortunate to have that close by.
Our daughter is a year older than Clara. We had a couple of tears and a fair bit of convincing to go near Santa last year – as much as she loved the concept the guy seemed a bit too scary.
Different story this year. After some minor hesitation this year he was her new bestie – we went early when they were quiet so she had some nice long chats with some lovely Santas. So keep up the encouragement and gentle introductions!
Her request this year…TWO clocks…no idea where it came from and why two, but Santa delivered much to her delight!
We did Santa shots once when my daughter was 2 only because he was ‘randomly’ at the garden center when we were looking for a bush. She looked at him like he was crazy and was not convinced she wanted to sit on his lap (don’t blame her). But she was won over by candy cane and we got the cutest picture!
Merry Christmas, day after! Pray you had a wonderful one.
Awwwwww so cute!!! Her face when she was on Santa’s lap is too sweet.
Santa visit was not so good for us. I wish I could post a pic of the meltdowns (yes, our inlaws made her do it twice)…
My eldest daughter is 7, and I have 8 years worth of pictures of her with the same Santa! Some of them have her standing next to Santa with evidence of mommy’s hands holding her there, but it has been the same Santa. We always put all the pictures out each year and line them up. Both of my girls love to see their outfits and how much they have changed.
That’s so sweet!
xo
s
Our younger daughter (now the mum of twins!) was very frightened of Santa when he visited her nursery, I guess when she was approaching 2. We have a wonderful photo of her screaming and trying to get away from him! LOL Every year I threaten to dig it out to show her hubby, there’s a chance I might manage it for next year as we’re finding all kinds of stuff as we clear our old home (38 years there!!!) so I’m sure it’ll turn up sooner or later.
I hope you had a fantastic Christmas Day, and hope you have a very happy and successful New Year. Your book is a big hit here, my elder daughter gave it to me for a belated birthday present (it was on my wish list but not published for my day) and I must lend it to her as I think she’d love some of your ideas for cheap and cheerful makeovers.
Best wishes from Liverpool!
Aw thanks Maggie! That’s so sweet! And very funny about that picture you threaten to dig out- sounds hilarious!
xo
s
Our 5 year old son refused to tell us what he wanted for Christmas this year, the only person he was going to tell was Santa. So when we went to visit Santa, I spoke with one of the elves and asked her if she could find out from Santa what my son was asking for. After my son had a chat with Santa and his picture taken, Santa actually got up and came over to me to tell me what he’d asked for. He wanted a pen and some paper!! It would be nice if it had Spiderman on it but it was okay if it didn’t!! That’s it, that’s all he wanted. Wow, he’s such an easy to please mini man!
That’s hilarious and adorable!
xo
s
My 2 year old is super outgoing and loves a man with facial hair. Needless to say Santa was her idol and we went and saw him 3 days in a row!! The first picture we got is her hugging him tightly around the neck. The second time she was stroking his beard. The last time she was laughing hysterically and had her mouth wide open.
Haha, that’s adorable!
xo
s
Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday.
Well done to Clara for braving sitting on Santa’s knee and I’m loving the redesigned gingerbread ornament’s face! It is the Lady Ga-Ga of ornaments :)
Haha, it’s true!
xo
s
That’s so fun of the neighborhood! We go to Santa’s House in Midland, MI. They even have a parade to announce when Santa is coming to town- and they have a dedicated house to him that sits empty the rest of the year. They had some awesome DIY inspired decor this year, and we went on a day when Comet and Blitzen were there. It kicked some serious booty.
http://www.brokeasshome.com/2012/12/santa-lives-in-michigan.html
Merry Christmas!
When in doubt, compliment a gal’s shoes.
aww so cute :) THat is great that you have a place like that to take her to during the holidays. Looks very homey and festive. Better then the mall! :) Merry late Christmas!
Oh wow, how classically cute is this! And oh wow again, I finally got your book for Christmas (thank you, Amazon wish list!) What a fun morning-after-Christmas I have had with it! It’s a good thing my husband went back to work this morning, or I would have him swinging a sledge hammer toward some of the more offensive areas of the house. Must. Clean. Up. Christmas. Hooey. First. (Baby steps!)
we had a successful santa visit this year too! both kids (3 years & 8 months) sat on his lap, no one cried, and our daughter even told him what she wanted: presents, to which he responded ” i think we can do that.” our son was entranced with santa’s beard. thankfully it was real unlike a lot of other santa’s i’ve seen.
I actually played Santa handler at work this year! Our Santa was probably the least jolly of all Santas, so it was definitely an adventure watching him dodge hugs and refusing to let little ones sit on his lap. He even passed out business cards with information about how to hire him! Not my favorite. Thank goodness we had an amazing fill-in Santa to counteract the bad one.
Haha, that’s so funny! Hopefully fill-in Santa gets the main gig next year :)
xo
s
That Clara’s a brave one! I think it’s wonderful that some Santas work on building some Christmas trust with kids. I used to tell my mom and dad that I couldn’t go sit on Santa’s lap because “I’m shy to him. Just him.”.
I asked Santa for your book, and my mom got it for me! She said you both look too cute and fun and she saw the book on the bestseller list the day she bought it! I keep pointing out all the new things I haven’t seen on this amazing site of yours. Merry Christmas Petersiks! What a great year!
Aw thanks so much Lynn, that’s so sweet! Hope you love the book.
xo
s
Very cute! We just happened to be at the mall the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving and as there was no Santa line, small miracle, we hopped on over for a quick picture. My son’s outfit was priceless, clashing stripes on his jacket, pants and fire fighter rain boots. He gave the best huge cheesy grin, it just makes me giggle everytime I see it! Always the practical one, he asked Santa for “Christmas shoes”.
That’s so cute!!
xo
s
I was so excited to take my 8 month old daughter to see Santa. Let’s face it at this age it’s really for the parents. She is in the stranger danger phase of life so I wasn’t sure how it’d go. As we approached Santa he said nothing to us. So my husband had to ask can I put her on your lap? He said no prop her up on the arm of the chair! Um color us surprised to hear that. I decided that wasn’t entirely safe so I’d crouch down beside to catch her in case she wiggled away. Well then Santa reprimanded me! He told me I needed to back out of the way! Apparently I was in the picture and he didn’t want me to be. He didn’t even attempt to chat with our little one….again I know 8 months she can’t talk but he could have tried a little harder. Maybe he needed a cookie break or an egg nog break!
Yeesh, no way! Santa was cranky! Haha.
xo
s
Clara’s look in the last Santa’s lap photo is funny, like she’s thinking to herself “what am i doing, what am i doing… this is terrifying!!!” :) Merry Christmas to you all!
Haha, she totally talks to herself. She’ll say “it’s ok baby, it’s alright, don’t be shy, be friendly!”
xo
s
I taught my 3 year old, when asked what she wanted by Santa, so say, “world peace.” Would have been funny if she didn’t have an emotional breakdown when the time arrived. :)
That’s so funny!
xo
s
haha :) when my oldest was her age, she asked Santa for grapes.i love kids :)
So cute!
xo
s
Children at this age are not very hard to please most of the time they just want to spend time with the best people in the world for them which is YOU their parent(s) so what I would say is things like the beach as you already have planned picnics, do they skate yet? do they know how to roller blade or ride bikes? if not why not start teaching them? and just reading to them or making up stories of their own is fun for them, they just want to be with you, so enjoy it because as they grow so will the their need to get away from us (parents) lol…I hope some of this helps..I have teens and they do not even want to walk with me because I am too old now it’s not cool…..lolGood Luck….Lady AngelReferences :
Love Clara’s bow! So pretty!!
Clara’s so stylish. Love that she gave her man sunglasses. So young, and already a pro with the accessories!
Our santa experience was horrible last year. Both kids screaming. Hilarious picture though. My little guy who was barely 1 had a look of sheer terror. This year my daughter, who just turned 4, said she wanted to go see him so we did and she totally had a freak out about going up to him. Our now 2 year old son is obsessed with all things santa, we got up to him and he said “No! No Sampa!” and ran away. We stood at a distance and Santa waved at him and he shrieked “No Sampa wave!” while waving at him lol Our mall Santa is really good too, feel bad for the guy.
Merry Christmas, Petersiks! Hubby had a copy of your book under the tree for me this year and I’ve been enjoying it so much!
I wish we could find a good low-key Santa like this. I would even be willing to pay for it, just to avoid the insanity of the mall. This seems way easier for a little kid (and Mommy!) to cope with. And the story-time thing is so sweet! We elected to skip Santa this year — I didn’t need the photo-op with an screaming 8 month-old that badly.
Awww, so happy to see Clara made it through the whole Santa experience! I love the second photo of her on his knee. I feel like she’s thinking “What the heck, Mom?!”
I don’t have any human kiddos, just a four-legged kiddo aka a dog. I took Chloe to Petsmart for her picture with Santa, thinking it would be a breeze like the first visit two years ago. I was so very wrong! She was nervous because an extremely poorly-behaved German Shepherd was sitting close by waiting to have his picture taken and kept barking at her (and everything else). Santa tried to get Chloe to relax, but I have a picture of her trying to escape from his arms, pulling off his beard as she jumped!
Aw, poor Chloe! Maybe next year she’ll be a happier camper! Clara definitely didn’t even touch Santa last year… haha!
xo
s
We haven’t really sought out Mr. C. yet. Our daughter is 6 and has never asked to go. The past few years I’ve somehow managed to get through the holidays (and most of the year, in fact) without stepping into the mall, so she doesn’t see it much either.
However, a nice man in our church (a VERY tall man – he must be 6’6″) dresses as St. Nicholas (complete with crook and bishop’s miter hat) every year. This was the first year she went over to talk to him (no lap sitting with St. Nick, except for the toddlers) and we got a snapshot. Very nice.
A local photography place in my state had the genius idea to let parents dress up as Santa, so if your little one is terrified by the “real thing” you still get cute pics. Thankfully my son either hasn’t hit his stranger anxiety phase or is a born extrovert because he did just fine with their Santa. Here’s one of my favorite pics from the session!
http://min.us/lzXWRnDqK5QsK
What a smart idea!
-John
The activities committee at work throws a beautiful family Christmas party and one of the employees does a splendid imitation of Santa. When my son was about Clara’s age, we attended the party and discussed getting in line to visit with Santa. Evan was a little aprehensive. I asked him, “Don’t you want to see Santa?” Evan’s response was, “I can see Santa just fine from here.”
Hilarious!
xo
s
Haha, Clara is so cute! Cleaning out the basement a few weeks ago, I found a home-writing journal from Gr. 1 detailing my Santa experience of that year. So funny, it said: “On Saturday, I went to visit Santa with Stephie (my sister). It was fun, but he smelled. He should have taken a shower!” I died ;)
Hahhhaahahahah!
xo
s
The unmentioned victory in this post is that she’s wearing a bow in her hair!!! So cute!
Hahaha! It lasted about ten minutes, but I’ll take it!
xo
s
In the pics when she is sitting on Santa’s lap and she has the apprehensive look on her face she looks just like John!
We have no kids of our own, but this year my husband was Santa at the annual Christmas at the Montauk Lighthouse. He got some crazy request..everything from marbles to a unicorn. He was there for 5 hours and saw over 250 kids. There were a few shy ones, but he was able to break the ice by offering a candy cane and a high five. Not your typical Santa, but overall I’d say he did pretty well for a 26 year old with no prior Santa experience!
What an awesome Santa, I’m sure that she will be a champ next year ;)
May I begin by agreeing with Santa…those are adorable boots!
My 16 month old daughter was just fine until Daddy placed her on Santa’s lap and made to back away for the picture and she lost it. At that point, we had already stood in line for a while and I really wanted a picture so I quickly scooped her up and calmed her down enough to get a plain faced shot of her with me smiling maniacally and the mall Santa pretty much looking annoyed (jerk). I’d say that $18 was almost worth not having a missed year with a Santa photo, except my poor baby wouldn’t go to my father-in-law (who has a slightly Santa-like figure) for the next 2 days. And that’s how I lost the Mother of the Year Award…
My daughter is now 7 and is fine with Santa, however when she was 2 our photo of her with Santa included me and her clinging onto my neck, with her feet firmly behind my back, not letting go for present or anything! She was also very loud!! My ear can testify to that!
Luckily our village Santa is very used to children so did not bat an eyelid!
When she was 3, Santa only walked into our local school to announce his arrival at the Christmas fete and she scooted under the table, bawled and refused to come out until Santa was firmly put in his grotto and away from her!
My daughter wouldn’t even get close to our mall Santa this year. We tried and tried every time we’d be there but nope, not having it. She would talk about Santa like crazy and know that she had to be a good girl and everything but was afraid of him. Luckily our daycare brings one in every year and she eventually warmed up to that one enough to stand close.
I’m late in joining the conversation here (it’s been too long since I’ve caught up on YHLife!) but our Santa pic from this year is too hilarious to not share: http://www.andreajennisoninteriors.com/2012/12/sending-lots-of-holiday-cheer-your-way/
Cheers and a happy (late) new year to you!
Andrea
Aw, Santa does look like a good sport. Hahah!
xo
s