Wednesday, December 27, 2006

my post. where's yours?

i’m really disappointed in the blogging community. most of the sites i regularly (and it’s not many) have been very lax in posting during the holidays. i’m disappointed because some of these folks are professionals, and they maintain a blog as a full-time job (or for income). here i am feeling guilty for missing posts, and my site has not generated one thin dime. sure, i’m jealous. especially when my mother-in-law, a voracious reader, says i should consider a career in writing. this is in addition to my father-in-law’s constant accolades regarding my letters. not only does he run a local newspaper, but his views are unbiased by my mother-in-law as they have been divorced for well over 25 years.

here’s the story of Punkin and Santa Claus i promised. and apparently, it’s free:

nearly every day last week, Punkin asked about Nonna, Paw Paw, and Gabbie (my parents and their dog). i told him he would get to see them this weekend, and Santa Claus, too. to which he replied, “No Santa Claus, No.” since he kept wanting to see his grandparents and their dog, i kept throwing in Santa, too, in hopes the association would be positive. we also read “The Night Before Christmas” every night. by the end of the week, Santa didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

we pushed to get out of the house Saturday morning at a reasonable hour. i suggested we check out the line for pictures with Santa Claus at the mall first; el Jefe’ still had shopping to do, and at least one of us could wait in line and tag team. we arrived before 9:30 am and entered a relatively long queue. i excused myself to go find a bathroom, walked the entire length of the mall, and even snuck in to check out a selection of Christmas CD’s. when i returned, Punkin and el Jefe’ had moved very little, and el Jefe’ informed me the approximate wait would be an hour and a half. we had Holiday Hell stuff to do, so we bailed.

we planned Christmas Eve morning around this whole picture with Santa Claus thing. We put Punkin to bed promptly at 8:00 pm the night before so he would get enough sleep in time to rise at 6:30 am. we decided to forego pancakes over cereal so we could get out of the house sooner. the mall opened at 7:00 am, and Santa was to arrive at 8:00 am. we arrived within minutes of 8:00 am and got in line. for nearly an hour. as we approached the front of the line, Punkin wanted el Jefe’ to pick him up. he wanted his woobie. and he held on with a death grip. odd, because he normally is too friendly with strangers. once he was placed on Santa’s lap, he bawled. loudly. the photographer gave it a couple seconds and opted for the “Peek-a-Boo” photo. this is where Santa hides behind his chair, while the photographer distracts the hysterical child. then the former hysterical child sits on Mommy’s or Daddy’s lap and Santa peeks out from behind the chair. El Jefe’ sat with the Punkin, in his clashing plaid shirt and holey jeans (neither of us were prepared to be photographed by any means, but at least he wasn’t wearing brown stripes!) and the result is the most wonderful picture of Santa behind the two guys i love the most.

he’s still talking (positively) about Santa Claus. Punkin, that is.

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