Santa Claus And A Tale Of Courage

Last night, Santa came to the annual work Christmas party with his boisterous "Ho, Ho, Hos" and jingling bells. Christian became a little apprehensive when he heard Ol' St. Nick's "clatter." He quickly found Erica's lap and sat there determined not to move as he quickly whipped up an ambitious scowl. It wasn't until he saw big bro Adam jump up on Santa's lap and return victorious, with a wrapped gift containing a G.I. Joe action figure, that Christian decided that getting to know Santa might not be such a bad idea.

At this point, Christian realized he needed to get into the line leading to Santa at all costs. "Maybe Santa isn't such a bad guy?" "Maybe Santa and I can be best buddies?" After patiently waiting in line, it was finally Christian's turn. Without hesitation and a determined resolve, he climbed up and diligently told Santa all his wishes for Christmas morn. At the end of this heartfelt and quite lengthy discussion, Santa reached back, retrieved a gift and handed it to Christian. "Woo Hoo! Success! All bets are off, now." Christian snatched his prize, bounded off Santa's lap and sprinted for the safety of Mom's lap. "Mission accomplished!" It was then that we realized that Christian had only swallowed his fear and sat on Santa's lap for the sole purpose of getting a gift. Poor little guy.

When he unwrapped his gift, he found that he was now the proud owner of a Lego car. He played with it all night—even slept with it—so I'm sure he figures that his new-found bravery was well worth the effort.

Conner refused to sit on Santa's lap. Who could blame him? Conner is now to the point where he's almost as tall as Santa.

When Santa came into the room, Adam made sure he was the first one to sit on his lap.