Our Christmas Miracle

In the midst of all the sickness and stress going on in December, we ventured to the mall to take pictures with Santa. This was a bad idea for many reasons. We got a late start, both boys were sick, we were going to one of the most crowded malls in the area on a Saturday, and neither Ed nor I were in the most jovial of moods. Still, we wanted to have this experience for the boys, so we trudged ahead.

We got to the mall just in time for Santa to take his mid-day, hour-long break. Because we so brilliantly planned our day, it was 1:00 p.m., which is William's normal nap time. We decided to walk around the mall a bit before heading back to get in Santa's line. We played at Pottery Barn Kids for a little while and puttered around. I kept expecting Seth to fall asleep, but he was too interested in the sights and sounds around him. At 1:30 we headed back to get in line. We waited, and waited, and waited. Ed walked around with William. Then I walked around with William. He started getting whiney, and Seth started getting antsy. The line finally started moving, and as we got closer and closer to Santa, Seth started getting more and more tired. He fell asleep in my arms when we were almost to the front of the line, and I was convinced this was going to be the worst Santa picture ever.

Over an hour later, as we tried desperately to keep William entertained and happy and held a sleeping Seth in our arms, we were just one family away from Santa. William stared at Santa and started looking a bit dubious. Seth stirred and woke up, looking around bewilderingly. William said he didn't want to see Santa. He started getting teary. Our turn arrived. I told William he could stand by me and watch Seth sit with Santa. I handed Seth to Santa and fully expected the tears to start flowing. Instead he looked at Santa, looked out at us and the camera and all the people watching, and started smiling. Then William decided he would sit with Santa after all. He cautiously approached Santa, and when Santa asked him, "What do you want for Christmas?" William answered, "Presents!" He sat on Santa's lap and as the photographer clicked away, he finally broke into a big grin. Our Christmas miracle indeed--a Santa picture with both boys smiling! It doesn't get much better than that!