Here Comes Santa Claus

We made the decision when Kaity was a baby not to tell our children that Santa would bring them presents. We have a lot of reasons for doing that, the main one being that it helps keep the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, at the center of our celebrations and excitement. Of course, they look forward to presents, but they know that Mommy and Daddy are the ones providing them. Anyway, I tell you that to give you context for the funny situation the kids were in last night. Jeff took them walking downtown and one of the banks had a Santa Claus there for pictures. A friend of ours who works at the bank saw our family passing by and waved them in. Jeff declined until she uttered the magic word, "free". And our friend was persistent. So, Joe was up first and he backed up like, "There is NO way." Then Kaity stepped up to the plate. She politely sat down next to Santa. He laughed and told her she was supposed to sit on his lap. Looking at daddy for confirmation, she sat down on Santa's lap and smiled for the camera. Then she got up. Which made Santa laugh again. "Get back here!" he told her. And he explained that she was supposed to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. Anyway, once their big sister had shown the way, Joe and Selah took their turns, too.