As our daughter started to be able to recognize Santa in books, on Christmas cards, and in the neighbors' lawn ornaments, I decided to move on to Part B of the plan: The Big Mall Visit. She was very impressed to know that she might actually get a meet & greet with this Christmastime celebrity. Our daughter tends to be very anxious about new things, so we started talking up this big event at least a week ahead of time. On the morning of The Big Mall Visit, we decided that we would consider it a successful trip to see Santa if she would consent to stand near the guy, but fully anticipated a screaming terror fit once she laid eyes on him. To our complete surprise, not only did she sit on his lap but she smiled for a picture. I felt like it was one of those scenes in a movie where a choir starts singing the Hallelujah Chorus as sunlight shines down upon all involved. Our daughter was very impressed with her visit to Santa.
As we counted down the days until Christmas and ran errands around town, we were listening to the radio station that has been playing holiday music since Halloween. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" came on.
"What's this song?" she asked.
"Oh!" I said excitedly, "It's about one of Santa's reindeer. You know how he has reindeer that pull his sleigh?"
"Yeah...." she says, remembering the reindeer she's seen on people's lawns and in her books.
"Well, they are magical reindeer that fly through the air, and one of them has a red nose that lights up so Santa can see in the dark, and..."
Just then I looked in the rear-view mirror. She had this expression on her face like "Oh crap! My mom must be on crack. She thinks reindeer can fly."
And I knew that I had gone too far.
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