A Christmas Miracle

A visit to Santa is a rite of passage, and not just for the kids.  All parents have an image in their heads (before the kids actually arrive, of course) of taking their children to see Kris Kringle that goes a little something like this: You wake up on a beautiful, snowy Saturday, and dress your sweet babies in their picture-ready best, hair combed, shoes shined, and bows perched neatly on heads.  You trek to the mall and sit them on the lap on the world's most authentic-looking Santa, where they smile angelically while the "elf" takes the perfect picture that will sit, proudly displayed, on the mantle until the end of time.  Or until one of them draws a mustache on it. 

Now let me tell you how it actually goes down in my house every year: we get the outfit and the bows in place, then, because Ava senses that we're running late, she has a complete meltdown, spills juice on her dress, and rubs her head on the couch until her hair looks like I styled it with a immersion blender.  We arrive at our intended venue - still foolishly optimistic - and stand in line behind 20 sets of similarly delusional parents, while our kids scream and we think about how much money an elf selling cocktails could make in a place like this.  Finally, our turn arrives and.....nothing.  Yup, you'd never know we were there, because Ava won't get within 10 feet of Santa Claus.  Another year, and no pictures.

This is the scene I was expecting when I was told that Santa would be visiting Ava's school for the annual Christmas party.  After all, this scene had already played out just one week before, so I didn't flinch when she dropped chocolate ice cream all over her dress.  Who cares?  I didn't even bring a camera. 

And then, Ava's friend sat on Santa's lap and something amazing happened: she asked if she could too.  His mother (I love her for this) ignored the stink eyes she was getting from the mom's of the 15 other kids waiting in line, and told Ava it was her turn.  And she had a camera.

 Luckily, my little Lila is still too small to argue with me.  We'll see what next year holds.