When pregnant with both my kids which was only 5 months apart, I would dream of the all the adventures we would get up to, all the good things about being a kid, which of course includes thinking of Santa and the trips to go and see him. I couldn't wait to see their wee faces light up with they saw the big guy in all his red and white glory.
I must have gone to more visits to Santa, but the one I remember the most would have been around the age of 7 and thinking about it now, I was starting to realise that all the loving adults around me, whom I trusted, where quite possibly lying to me and had been for while, maybe, just maybe Santa was in fact not real. But I desperately wanted to beleive.
It was at Goldberg's department store in Edinburgh with my Nana, it was great, a proper grotto that you walked through, all very exciting, knowing that you were going to get a wee gift before Christmas and Christmas itself was just round the corner, the countdown was on! Presents were on their way.
That year I got my BMX rally burner and my Cindy house, I had only wanted one or the other so getting both was one of my best Christmases (didn't question at the time, why some of the Cindy's had Biro pen eyeshadow and dodgy haircuts).
Anyway I remember it being magical, wonderful and I could not wait to share this with my own kids.
We are on our 4th Christmas as a team and as my boy was teeny the first year, we are only our 3rd visit to Santa and quite frankly its bloody stressful, not all sugar plums dancing and merrily on high!
It is not easy, organising two young children out of the house at the best of times, I don't know if it is me, I put too much expectation into it, into us having this wonderful family Christmas experience that we will treasure for the rest of our days, when in reality once we started the 2012 adventure to see Father Christmas, I could not wait for it to be over and done with.
A very enthusiastic three year old and a two year old that whats to be in and on everything, especially if it is particularly dangerous do not make good queueing companions.
Not only did we have to wait an hour and a half just to get into the queue, we then had to shepherd the children round a wyndy path that was littered with Christmas trees, baubles, lights, a waterfall, mechanically moving animals, ducks??, rabbits and then a big reindeer!
The enthusiastic three year old was on a sensory overload high and constantly trying to skip the queue, quite happy to leave the rest of us behind, even resorting at one point to pushing the the back of the adults knees in front of us, I had thought it was to hurry then along but it could quite possibly have been to disable them thus getting closer to Santa!
The two year old danger magnet, she could not believe her eyes, LOTS of things to try and grab, eat, pull, climb, scream at, chat too, sit on, throw and dive into (waterfall). A poor duck lost its head in the furore!
Its not fun, its not for the feight hearted or Ducks!
I am there trying to contain my kids, with a mad smile of my face, this pretence of yes my kids are a bit mad but we are having just the best time. Thumbs up!
When I am actually thinking, HOW MUCH FUCKING LONGER!!
Disclaimer: Kids loved it ;-)
Ha! your thought process works like mine!
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