Visiting Santa

I've wanted to take Punkin to see Santa this year, but decided that if she saw him and freaked out that I wouldn't force her to sit on his lap for the purposes of satisfying my desire to get a picture.  So, I wasn't pushing the issue.  This morning, we were hanging out and I asked Punkin if she wanted to go to the park and she said "No" and then I asked her if she wanted to go on a walk with Rodney and she said "No."  So, I thought, hey, what the heck, and asked her if she wanted to go see Santa.  She responded "Yeah."  I asked her a couple of times and she kept saying "Yes," so I decided to run with it. 

We changed (because everyone was still in pjs) and in short order left the house.  I left so quickly that I made a rookie mom mistake and didn't bring snacks.  What?!?!?  The first thing you learn is to never leave the house without diapers or snacks.  Maybe I was just being brave.

We got to the mall and the line was somewhat daunting.  Still, we had made it this far, so I didn't want to turn back.  I thought there was a chance that we would stand in line for an hour and then Punkin would refuse to sit on Santa's lap.  That would be bad.  We got in line and, fates would have it, a friend of mine was ahead of us in line with his little girl.  I caught up with my friend for a while and then Punkin decided she needed a cookie from Starbucks (which we passed in the line).  My friend and the nice people behind us held our place while we went and got a snack from Starbucks.  Then we ran into another friend with her two kids.  This turned out to be a great social opportunity for me!  My friend did it right though.  She and her husband took turns standing in line while the other parent took the kids and got food or took them to stores they were interested in.  Clearly, they had done this before!

Punkin did fine for the most part.  She was bored, but I couldn't really blame her.  So was I.

Boredom

More boredom

Finally, something to play on - the ropes!

When we finally, got to the front, I was so glad that my friend was ahead of us because Punkin watched his little girl get on Santa's lap and very earnestly tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas.  When it was her turn, Punkin took Santa's hand and willingly sat on his lap.  She wouldn't respond to his questions or smile, but overall, I think it was a victory!  I got a good picture and then passed by the commercial photos, which were terrible!  I was so happy that I had brought my own camera!!

Punkin and I returned home and both took afternoon naps!  Overall, a good investment of a couple of hours this morning.