Is that the Real Santa taking photos?
Things got a bit awkward as we stood in line at Nanaimo North Town Centre the other day for the requisite picture with Santa. Our six year old was observing that Santa seemed to be in a lot of places at one time these days and isn’t that odd. As we desparately thought of a way to answer, she thankfully came up with her own explanation: these must all be Santa’s helpers. Problem solved. But then, a few moments later, in strolls our Santa and she observes that his beard isn’t nearly as full as the Santa in the promotional pictures. More silence; more desparate thinking. And again, before we have to come up with something, she notices a barber shop further down the mall – clearly he’s been for a shave. My husband and I glance at each other and smile – yes, a close shave.
Meanwhile our three year old seemed blissfully ignorant of all this – chewing ferociously on a candy cane – but I suspect those little wheels were turning and that she wasn’t buying any of her sister’s rationalizations. She’s silently biding her time, but at least we have a year to think of new explanations. For now she was happy enough to sit with our freshly-cut Santa and actually produce some faint smiles for the camera. She was almost as reluctant to show her joy as the two teenage boys who followed us. I watched with amusement while they dutifully sat with Santa; their mother holding their coats and looking very pleased with herself. Standing in line waiting for our prints, I asked the mother what it had taken to bribe her teens. She laughed and said it had taken a lot – to which the boys gave very satisfied grins – but it was worth it all because she now had a complete set of Santa pictures from new-born to sixteen. I wondered how soon we’d have to start bribing our girls.
