Santa Revisited

Last year I caused more than a little controversy by saying that we weren't going to do the Santa thing.

Those of you who disagreed will be relieved to learn that we ARE going to do the Santa thing this year. Here's why - Mary Grace has developed a belief in Santa all on her own, via the books she reads and the shows she watches, and we had nothing to do with it.

In previous years she has been terrified of Santa. One of the reasons I didn't want to tell her Santa was going to show up at our house in the middle of the night was that I was pretty sure she wouldn't ever sleep again. This year, however, thanks to the influence of Disney and the Muppets and a dozen books, she and Santa are buddies. When we went to the mall she asked me if she could go talk to him (and since there was no one else there, I said, "Sure!") and she and Santa had a nice little chat about God knows what.

We're keeping it low-key. Santa will bring one big gift for the two of them, and stockings. We're not going to do the reindeer "guts" and we're not going to shake sleighbells outside or put reindeer tracks on the roof. We're not going to use the NORAD Santa tracker. We may leave cookies out, if I remember, but Max will probably eat them.

Anyway, I thought that you all might want to know that we have revised our opinions. I know that there will be a great sigh of relief coming at us from several directions. If the girls get mad at us for lying to them when they're older, you know where I'm going to send them!

I hope that you all have more magic and love surrounding you today than your hearts can hold. I hope that you get everything you're wishing for. I hope that you're surrounded by people who love you. And if you're not, come on over, because once again I bought WAY too much food.

Merry Christmas to all of you.