Went to the mall with Mady today. Needed to return some items and possibly stop by the Santa station. For a few weeks Mady has been excited about Santa and has seen pictures of him on television and in books. When folks say well what is Santa bringing you she says presents, big presents.
We approached Santa cautiously (outside the fenced-in area). There weren’t any children around and Santa was conversing with another adult. Mady was pretty excited and said uppee (up-please in Mady language). I picked her up and the entire look on her face changed. I saw that bottom lip turn down and poke out. Before the big tears began to roll our conversation started:
Lulu: now don’t cry...just look at that Santa. Tell me what he has on...what do you see?
Mady: [reluctantly] a red hat
Lulu: yep, and what else?
Mady: a beard
Lulu: what does he have on his feet?
Mady: [looking him up and down] black boots
At this point the Santa looked over waved his hand and said, HI. Mady wove back and said loudly HI. The conversation continues:
Lulu: See, he is so friendly and sweet. Would you like to go over there and see him?
Mady: [emphatically] NO
Lulu: That’s okay, we don’t have to. You know, we could just stand right there [pointing to inside the fenced area] and I could hold you. You don’t have to sit on his lap, I'll just hold you and you can say hi to him.
Mady: [thoughtful pause] no
Again, Santa looked over and said, hi there. Mady also said hi back to Santa, again without any hesitation. So, we talked a bit more about Santa, his outfit, his face, his chair.
Lulu: Are you sure you don’t want to just go stand over there? I promise I will hold you and you do not have to sit on his lap.
After about a 15 second pause to really consider the situation, eyes moving around, looking at that jolly man once again, she said with eyes big and a quick nodding and tilt of the head:
Go see doggies now! See Santa later.
So, she said her goodbye to Santa and we went to see the doggies.
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