Santa came to my office yesterday (in the form of one of my co-workers). So all of us gathered up our kids to come tell him what they wanted, eat some candy and cookies, some Chick-fil-a, and watch Merry Madagascar.

Neither Jon nor I grew up believing in Santa, so we haven't made it a priority for the kids either. He's more of a "fun game" than anything, and certainly I don't want my kids to spoil it for other kids, so I'm trying to walk through all of that. But anyway, I didn't realize just how little they knew about Santa until they got up there and sat on his lap.

They just sat.

They didn't ask for anything. When he asked what they wanted, they said, "I don't know." When he asked what they liked, they said, "I don't know." Dominic finally said, "Yes, I like that!" when Santa asked about cars, and decided that he wanted cars with a race track. Amara told him that she wanted a reindeer -- but when I reminded her that she HAS a reindeer, she said, "Yes, but I want to give that one to Dominic, so I want a new one." I told her she didn't need another -- especially if she was going to give her old one away. So she ended up not really telling Santa she wanted anything. Easy to please, I guess!


What she DID tell Santa was this, "Santa, I think you're cool, but I love Jesus more."

Yes, I did tell her to say that, but I thought it was funny that she did. Santa laughed, and said, "I love him, too." ("Santa" has been a worship leader at a local church for several years.) When Dominic heard Santa's reaction, he ran up to Santa and said, "I love Jesus the most, too." Santa laughed and said, "Oh good, I love him most, too!"

It was so funny. The night before when I told the kids to say that, the kids were very concerned about hurting Santa's feelings. They said, "Mom, we need to love everyone!" I assured them (knowing who Santa was) that Santa wouldn't care. I also told them that I know they love ME, but that I hope they love Jesus more than me -- and that it doesn't hurt my feelings. That apparently made it alright in their mind.

After visiting Santa, Amara asked me, "Mom, do you think that was the real Santa?" Already the skeptic. :) I told her, "I don't know baby, there are a lot of Santa's around -- keeps you guessing, doesn't it."