Meeting Santa

I took the kids to the mall today to talk to Santa. I was prepared for Jillian to totally freak out and not want anything to do with him (because that's what happened with the Easter bunny!) and for Jake to be indifferent. But we did a little bit of prep work for this meeting - we've been talking about Santa a lot lately, and we've been to look at him at the mall a few times. Those trips, we didn't go up to him or anything, just looked at him from afar. I told her last night that we were going to see Santa today, so she's had time to get excited about it.

So we had to wait in line behind about 3-4 other kids. We brought a picture for Santa that Jillian had colored, and she knew that she was supposed to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. Jillian was a bit shy at first, but Santa was good about talking to her and making her feel comfortable. Eventually I asked her if she wanted to sit on his lap. She did. Both her and Jake both sat right on Santa's lap and smiled for the pictures. Jillian told Santa that she wanted "presents" but didn't elaborate. They talked about how she wanted pink and purple wrapping paper, and Santa said he'd see what he could do (I found some but it was hard!). He also settled an argument for me and Jillian - that Santa comes while you are asleep, not while you are awake! Jillian's still mad about that!

Jillian is always going around saying, "if you see ________, say _______!" like they do on Dora. Like, "if you see a red sock, say 'red sock!'" So last night, I was talking to her about leaving out cookies and milk for Santa, and I asked about the reindeer. She asked what they ate, and I told her carrots. So she said she'd feed three and I could feed the rest. (Remember, at that time, she thought Santa came while she was awake.) So then she said, "momma, if you see a reindeer that looks hungry, yell 'throw a carrot in his mouth!' and I'll feed it!" She's silly!