Monday, December 10, 2007

Santa Claus, Part II

As you'll recall, last year, we took this photo of the girls with Santa Claus:



Who is this guy, and why are we sitting on this lap?
(click on photo for larger view)


We figured this year, we had a better shot of getting the girls to take a decent photo with the guy in the big red suit. After all, we reasoned, they are a year older.

To increase our chances, we started a subtle PR campaign aimed at enhancing Santa's image in our girls' eyes. For the weeks leading up to our visit to the mall, we:

  • Showed the girls T.V. shows and movies with Santa in them.
  • Sang "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" (See previous post)
  • Asked them what they wanted Santa to bring them for Christmas.

The brainwashing seemed to be working. In the week leading up to our mall visit, the girls walked around confidently proclaiming, "I want to take a picture with Santa!"

When the big day arrived, we dressed the girls up in their best Christmas dresses and took them over to our local mall.

Ultimately, this is the photo we ended up with:

(click on photo for larger view)

Here are some things you may or may not have noticed about this photo:

  • Terri and I are in the photo. This is because Santa absolutely refused to let the girls sit on his lap. You heard me. He refused. You'll notice this is an older, more authentic Santa than from the previous year. This Santa, being older and wiser, had no hesitancy in having his helper state, "If there's a chance the girls will kick him, they can't sit on Santa's lap." So Terri and I ended up sitting next to Santa, and holding onto our girls.
  • Katherine is still crying this year, but at least this year she wasn't trying to leap out of the photograph.
  • Caroline looks at this photo and is proud of stating, "I'm not crying." However, what you can't see in the photo is Caroline fearfully digging her nails into Daddy's chest and arm, causing them to bleed.
  • Notice the forced smile on Santa's face. It seems to be saying, "They don't pay me enough for this gig. And with this guy sitting on my right hip, I can't reach my flask."

I can't wait to see what next year's photo will look like!

3 comments:

Amy said...

Hahahahahahaha! I love it! At least you got one! Baylee kept saying she wanted to take one with Santa; however, Brayden walked up, took one look and announced, "Noooooooo"--with the voice getting more and more high pitched toward the end. Maybe next year. Maybe.

Marine Wife said...

I know I shouldn't laugh...but the look of sheer terror on Katherine's face is going to come back to haunt you when she's in therapy and accusing you of torture.

If it makes you feel any better, my 3 yr old's preschool class all went together to see Santa and take a class picture. They managed to snap a quick one before mine escaped and refused to get back in the picture.

TicTac To said...

High-larious. We, too, are in Wyatt's Santa photo. I'm so glad that I didn't wash my hair that day.