Fresh snow was enough to delay our trip to meet Santa, but there was little chance it would be cancelled. Amy's been coaching Clara on everything Christmas and Santa Claus was no exception. If we hadn't gone we'd have been forced to make up some elaborate deception. It would undoubtedly have been detected by super-sleuth Clara and her faith in humanity would have been shattered leading her down the dark path toward being me.
So we went to Bellevue.
The mall was surprisingly empty, but then it was a Friday morning at about 10:30. It appears that's the perfect time. All the mall-walkers have left and the teenie-boppers haven't gotten up yet. Plus the snow probably helped a bit, though there was virtually none on the ground in Bellevue.
The line was short, but long enough for Clara to get amped up and then apprehensive. She danced and jumped and peered through the crowd to try to get a glimpse of Santa, but in the end had to wait patiently. Or at least as patient as she can get. Lilly was a perfect angel the whole time. (No, she wasn't sleeping.)
When we tried to introduce Clara to Santa she froze.
What's your name?
silence
How old are you?
slience
Would you like a candy cane?
silence, but she took the candy cane
She did eventually get on his lap and with Lilly on his other knee we got the best photo we could really have hoped for. Clara was giving her forced smile and Lilly was the traditional deer-in-the-headlights, but neither were crying or screaming so it was clearly a success.
(As a side note: Go to see Santa on a weekday when school is still in session. That way it's only people who want to be working as an elf, not those told by their parents they needed a job or they wouldn't get a new iPod.)
Total time to get the girls dressed, prettied, and the picture taken: 30 minutes.
Total time spent cleaning up after Clara's candy cane: 30 minutes before we just declared her shirt a total loss and threw it away.
