Visiting Santa

Wow...our visit with Santa this year was far from magical. I had such high expectations and even dressed the kids up (I spent 20 minutes getting Susie's hair just right!). Susie and her doll put on their matching dresses--a gift from Grandpa Keith and Grandma Megan. It took us about an hour to get to the mall thanks to traffic. We decided to go to a different mall this year because the Santa at the mall closest to us never wears the traditional Santa suit. We checked Santa's lunch hours and the website told us his break was from 1-2 in the afternoon. We got to Santa's Winter Wonderland at about 2:20. Kevin's sister was with us, so we had Tyler (5), Susie (3), Jackson (3), and Bennett (9 months). We really tried to plan ahead to ensure that all the kids would be on their best behavior. The moment we stepped into line, we were told Santa was taking his lunch break at 2:30 and if we didn't get through the doors to see him by then, we would have to wait an hour. This was exactly what we planned ahead to avoid! I know Santa takes breaks, and I have waited many times in the past few years for him to return. We checked out the information ahead of time to make sure this very incident would not happen! Kevin and I were furious! We were not about to wait an hour in line just because they didn't close earlier. We were told they had pushed his lunch break back because it had been so busy and visitors were not letting them close down. So...punish us? We did our research. It felt so unfair. We kept trying to persuade Santa's helper to at least let us through. (Santa's helper, by the way, looked more like a punk than a "helper". He was dressed in black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black jacket. And he almost had a sort-of faux-hawk going on. I can't believe they would have their employees dress that way.) But, of course, just as we stepped to the front of the line, he shut the doors on us. Probably because we had spoken up. Oh, we were so mad. Susie started crying. It was such a miserable situation because I felt so frustrated and angry. Exactly what you don't want to associate with Santa Claus. I marched my kids and Jackson to the exit where Santa was about to make his get-a-way. I plead my case with the man, and thankfully got my way. Tyler sat on his lap and told him what he wanted. Jackson stood next to him to talk. And Susie, of course, refused to go anywhere near him. All my effort on her hair wasted! I snapped a bunch of pictures. Then we left. Later on Michelle told me a sign nearby said, "No outside cameras." Oops. Oh well. By that point I'm sure they were all too scared to stop me.