Santa Claus is Comin' To Town!

My son has unusual fears. When he was younger, he worried about hippopotamuses. "No," I would tell him, "there are no hippopotamuses in our neighborhood." For awhile, he was scared of meatballs. I don't mean he didn't like them--I mean he was scared of them.

Lately he has two new fears: Santa and snowmen.

Nana has a snowman decoration in her bathroom. Hayden won't go in there until I remove the offending figurine. There is some history to this; I suppose the snowman phobia is somehow related to his long standing fear of statuary.


Now Santa...I'm not sure about this one. He joyfully composed a list to Santa. He likes Christmas movies. He seems to like Santa in theory. But put him in the same room as the beloved icon...well, all bets are off.


The Santa at the preschool party stood a good 6'5". Add the patent leather boots and he genuinely towered over the children. But, Hayden was determined to get his list to jolly St. Nick. Poor kid swallowed his fear and gamely handed over the list while remaining as far away as possible.

At the Santa Claus brunch we went to a few days later, Hayden told Santa's elf that he had already handed over his list--no need to visit the big guy. Well, that was until he found out that Santa was giving away jingle bell ornaments. H has had a soft spot for jingle bells ever since we read The Polar Express. We assured him he didn't need to sit on Santa's lap, so he stood next to the elf and dutifully mumbled something unintelligible.

Marlo had no such reservations and despite being overdue for a snooze, cheerfully sat on Santa's lap.

Hayden, I can honestly say, has only been on Santa's lap once. He was two months old and wasn't particularly thrilled about it then, either.


Maybe that was the start of the whole thing? Santa doesn't look real happy either.

The good news is that Hayden was a very good boy this year and Santa will be sure to leave shiny new things under the tree. Even Baby Marlo will get a thing or two from the merry old soul. Even Dexter the dog, who has most assuredly NOT BEEN A GOOD BOY, will still get a chew toy in keeping with the spirit of the holiday.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.