Christmas time is here...

Our elf Punky

Evie’s at an age where every day – no every moment – is unpredictable.  I suppose the reality of having children is that you need to expect the unexpected, no matter what their age.  At 2.5 years old, Evie is the most sweet, crabby, happy, grumpy, nice, mean, compliant, obstinate, generous, greedy, loving child ever.  The enthusiam and amazement that she has for things is unmatched and showing her the world can really be a lot of fun.  Except when it’s not.  We’ve had a few incidents when we’re out that have left me slightly scarred and petrified to ever take her out in public again.  I’ve talked to so many people who have made me feel better about it all. They’ve told me that it’s normal for her age and they’ve been through it with their kids too.  Hearing this from other parents helps me because there are so many times that I feel like I must be doing something wrong.  I’m sure there are times when I could handle situations differently, but it helps to know that other people have been there and it’s not just me.  Kids are hard work and sometimes, despite our best efforts, they act up. 

I’ve been feeling kind of bad because I don’t feel like we’ve done enough this Christmas season to really get Evie in the spirit.  So yesterday we decided to cross one major thing off of our list – a visit to Santa.  We figured it would be better to go in the middle of the week than wait til the weekend to avoid some of the crowds.  I’ve learned in my two+ years as a parent that the key to going out is preparation.  Half of the time this works in my favor and things go great.  But sometimes I’m crazed and disorganized and I find myself out with a kid that has dirty diaper, an empty wipe container and only one diaper that happens to be the wrong size.  Often it doesn’t matter what I do – my kids have a mind of their own and leaving the house is an exercise in patience and acceptance that I can’t control everything.   

That said, before we left, we sat down for a nice, early family dinner.  Gotta keep that blood sugar up!  After dinner, I helped Evie with her letter to Santa.  She colored the pictures and I wrote down what she really wants for Christmas.  She helped me fold it up and stick it in an envelope (complete with a sticker stamp).  She was so excited about this letter.  We loaded up the kids in the van, made sure we had plenty of diapers and wipes and headed to Tuttle Mall.  Mitch was bundled in his reindeer coat and Evie clutched the letter in her hand the whole way there.  She marched into Macy’s and proudly put her letter into the giant red mailbox. 

We made our way into the mall to find the longest line to Santa in existence.  It had to be at least a 90 minute wait.  Security guards were setting up additional turnstiles and more and more people continued to get in line.  We stood in this mess for about 5 minutes before I decided that we couldn’t take it.  After attempting to buy some personalized Christmas ornaments from a vendor in the mall (another long line = fail), we left.  Evie looked so disappointed that we were leaving without seeing Santa – “But Mama?  I see Santa?” – but we assured her that she would see Santa.  He was just at another mall.  Lucky for us, she is still too young to question why Santa is two places at once!  We got back in the van and head to the Shoppes of Worthington.  On the way there, Evie and I said a little prayer that Santa wasn’t too busy.  We pulled up, parked right next to the door and walked in to a virtually empty shopping center.  On the way to see Santa, I spotted a personalized ornament booth and was able to get a new 2014 family ornament and a “First Christmas” ornament for Mitchell.  We made it to Santa and, unbelievably, there was no line!  Evie walked right up, chatted with Santa, told him she wanted a pink bicycle, gave him a hug and got a candy cane.  Then she was played for little while on the indoor playground, we saw a toy train, some Christmas displays and a gingerbread village, and  stopped at Panera for hot cocoa and a warm chocolate chip cookie.  On the way home, we drove through some neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights and sing carols.  All of this was done in little over an hour.  It was a small Christmas miracle and we were thankful!