(yes, I needed a strategy) was to not mention it to Evelyn and Willa
until we got to the mall. That way, they wouldn't have time to work
up a scary scenario in their heads. Evelyn has pretty intense
stranger anxiety that was only heightened and cemented during the
most recent Halloween season. Willa would be fine, but if Evelyn is
worried, Willa figures she probably ought to be worried as well.
Another part of my strategy was to feed them lots of mexican food
after Church so that they would nap in the car on the way there, thus
putting them in an awesome mood. This part of my strategy did not
take into account the broken windshield wiper on the van, and (of
course) the subsequent rain. So we drove around all day in Jason's
XTerra with all three girls squished together on the back seat. No
nap. Lots of touching, kicking, tickling, smacking, and
screaming...but no napping.
By the time we get to the mall, Mary Grace has figured out what's
going on, and very helpfully announces this to Evelyn and Willa. To
my surprise, Mary Grace gets them all excited about seeing Santa.
Fantastic! We get in the mall, find Santa and his very long line,
and everyone is still in great spirits. We watch Santa for a long
time, and, thankfully, no screaming children are forced to sit on his
lap while we're watching. This would be an instant deal breaker.
Santa goes on a break. Santa comes back. Mary Grace has several
very intense and nervous conversations with me about what she might
or might not ask for. Willa keeps telling me she's going to ask for
a "brown Daddy present," whatever the heck that is. Mary Grace is
now having some very intense conversations with the older boy in line
in front of us, and he's showing her a picture he cut out of a
magazine of some video game machine. Wait, what the heck? Why is
she having very intense conversations with the older boy in line in
front of us???
Anyway, everyone is still doing great, and we're next. Evelyn, at
this point has asked to be picked up a couple of times (the only sign
that she's a little nervous). My strategy (yes, still strategizing)
was to not pick her up because then I would have to extricate her
from my body in order to put her down with Santa. In situations with
strangers, this is often physically impossible, so I don't pick her
up at all right now. Jason is ready to take video and pictures of
the entire event.
Ok, we're next! Mary Grace walks right up. I have Willa's hand in
one hand and Evelyn's hand in the other. I pull Willa a little and
show her that Santa has candy canes. That does the trick, and she's
up in Santa's lap. I turn to pull Evelyn along, and she's gone
behind the little white fence that surrounds Santa Land. She just
looks at me very plainly with her thumb in her mouth, shakes her head
NO and grabs the fence, as if to say, "You can try and make me, but
it won't be pretty." The picture girl looks at me with raised
eyebrows. I know she's thinking, "Are you one of the Moms who puts
the screaming child on Santa's lap?" I'm not. I give her a nod and
we have a lovely Santa picture of Mary Grace and Willa smiling ear to
ear.
