I Win At The Mall Santa Visit

I think that with a 3 year record I can safely say that I win at going to see Santa at the mall.

In a perfect world going to see the “big guy” with the kids should be magical. They write their Christmas wish lists. They get dressed up in their cutest coordinating outfits (that Mommy lays out for them) with their bright smiles and excitement. Each one gives Santa a hug and then gather around him and pose perfectly for a picture of 4 calm, rested, fed, groomed, happy children.

The reality for most moms is that they go to the mall in a bad mood after a stressful morning or afternoon of domestic crap only to get to Santa’s Work Shop and find a 2 hour waiting line for a 30 second rushed photo of the kids who at this point are hungry, cranky, messy and have lost the cute hair bow that once looked totally “Gap(ish)”. They don’t get enough time to talk to Santa and end up shouting their wish list over the shoulder of the “elf” that is ushering them away so they can bring in the next crying kid. Oh the joy of the season.

What a nightmare?! I used to get stressed out about going to see Santa with the kids on December 26th. I used to try to go first thing in the morning when Santa’s shift starts. Well that didn’t work out so well because a lot of moms are early birds too, go figure. Then a few years ago I realized that the most undesirable time of the day for any mom is DINNER TIME ON A WEEKNIGHT! So I took a chance  (and my meds) and gave it a try. We got the kids fed at home early and then dressed and groomed. We pile into the car and head to the mall planning to arrive as close to 6pm as possible. Pleasantly I have found that Santa’s Workshop is near empty when we arrive. There is no line or at most a couple of kids ahead of us which amounts to less than 5 minutes of waiting. Santa seems relaxed and the photographer is willing to take the time to get a good shot where all 4 kids are looking AND smiling! Not an easy task. This year we were in and out of Santa’s Workshop in 10 minutes flat and that included checking in with the hostess and taking off the kids winter coats and fixing their hair. After picking up our prints, Daddy treated them all to ice-cream while I did a little present recon work. We decided to let the kids walk thru Toys R Us to look at what they might want to narrow their wish list down to and then it was home to bed. Everyone asleep by 8:30pm!

I WIN!

 

 

Pro Tip: I never tell my kids we are going to see Santa until we are successfully sitting down to eat dinner at a good time. This gives me a back door to pull the plug at the last second in case things don’t go well at dinner and saves me from disappointing them. No crying or anger if things just don’t go well and I can just plan it for another night. But if dinner starts well I reward them with the news that we get to go see Santa after dinner! I could probably feed them green beans and liver and they’d eat it after telling them.