Santa Baby

Last year, Mia didn't really understand Christmas, and we didn't try very hard to explain either the religious or secular significance. We didn't even try to get a photo on Santa's lap, as we were pretty sure that would have been traumatizing. Now that Mia understands more, this year's preparations are more fun - most of the time.
Soon after becoming parents, Jeff and I wondered what we'd tell Mia about Santa. I personally cannot remember a time that I believed in Santa, so it's no great shakes to me. My first memory of Santa is when my older brother showed me a picture (in the Encylopedia Brittanica, no less) of Santa flying through the air in a sleigh. As he explained to me that Santa visited every house on Christmas eve, I distinctly remember telling him that wasn't possible. I could see that there was no way he could fit a toy for every child on that sleigh, I knew sleighs didn't fly, and I knew he couldn't possibly make it around the world in one night. Always my rational self.
Back to our parenting discussion. If I recall correctly, Jeff was more concerned about the psychological aspects of telling one's child a big lie year after year. We have friends who tell their 5-year-old, "Santa is real just like Spiderman is real." They don't want to lie to him, but they also don't want him to dispell the fantasy for other children. I think we settled on the idea that the preschool would have lots of talk about Santa, so probably it made sense to go along with whatever they say for a while.
Which brings us to Christmas season 2009. As we expected, Mia came home from preschool one day talking about Santa. I asked her what Santa does and she said, "He comes down the chimney." I went along with it without embellishing. (Come to think of it, Mia hasn't asked for Santa to bring her anything yet. We don't let her watch children's TV, so it helps that she isn't exposed to all the toy advertising.) Later, I heard her singing, "I love Santa."
On Saturday, there was an Advent workshop at the church. They touted Santa would be making an appearance, and there would be crafts and snacks. I hadn't planned to take Mia, but then all morning Saturday she was singing about Santa. We happened to be driving past the church as the workshop was starting, so I made the decision to participate.
We were the second or third family to arrive. The event was in a big room with craft tables. Santa was sitting in a rocking chair at the far end of the room. Unfortunately, Mia took one look at him and started screaming in fear. (Deja vu - it was a lot like that Halloween party I told you about.) I tried to tell her it was just a nice man in a costume, like Halloween. (There were no other children within earshot, so I don't think I was spoiling it for anyone.) This went on for a while, despite my best efforts to comfort her. Finally, I was able to distract Mia long enough to get her to make a candy cane by stringing red and white beads on a pipe cleaner. That was going OK until Santa (who didn't have a lot to do at that point) decided to swoop in close to show her he wasn't scary. That started her crying again. Santa retreated to the food table. He was 30 or 40 feet away from us, but that wasn't good enough for Mia, who kept asking me to make him go back in his chair. As the room filled up with families who had clearly dressed up for a photo op with Santa, he returned to his rocker and became easier to ignore.
One of the event volunteers came to me and said, "That's why we do this. When you take your kids to the mall you've got one shot to get the photo and if they are crying, too bad." I see their point, but somehow I don't think Mia will be sitting on Santa's lap anytime soon. Until Mia asks to see Santa, I can get along without the classic Santa's lap photo in my album.