Visiting Santa

Aubrey has never had a good visit with Santa. She has been downright terrified of him since she was 11 months old. Every time she even gets a glimpse of him she freaks out. I get it, he's a stranger in a bright red suit, long beard, and all of that stuff. But, I really hated the fact she could be scared of Santa forever. I was determined to get a picture of both kids with Santa this year, even if it meant both kids were less than happy with me. I don't get to go to Raleigh this year when Santa visits the children on the farm and brings a present so I decided we would go visit Santa at the mall. We hyped it up all day before we planned to go and told Aubrey she had to be nice to Santa and tell him what she and Mason wanted for Christmas since Mason couldn't tell Santa himself. She still wasn't to sure about the whole idea, but agreed to try sitting on his lap. I even encouraged her to bring a stuffed animal to cuddle if she got nervous so she brought a penguin (completely her idea) to hold on his lap. I got nervous when we saw Santa walking down the hall towards the photo area and Aubrey buried her head in my leg. Luckily, we had 20 minutes or so to wait and we continued to hype Santa up and tell her what a nice guy he was and he would be sad if she didn't talk him. When it was finally our turn, we placed Mason in his lap and Aubrey reluctantly crawled up as well. Mason's face was hilarious as he tried to figure out just who was holding him. But, the photographer instantly starting shaking some bells and Mason was fascinated with those and forgot all about sitting in Santa's lap. We watched in amazement as not one.single.tear.was.shed. By either child. I quickly grabbed Mason after the pictures were over before he could get upset. Aubrey very quietly responded to Santa's questions and said she would like to have princesses and a Dora for Christmas. She was even able to tell him Mason wants a cash register (again, her idea) for Christmas. She was actually smiling when she got down from his lap and talked happily about Santa the rest of the night. So, I will call it a big, fat success and hope her Santa aversion is over.