Does Santa Get Sick?

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Thanks for the soundtrack, Jeff. ♥

In a mild panic about shopping for Xmas, I asked Iz to make out her Xmas list today. She told me that she needed help spelling the words, so we sat down after lunch to write it. She not only had a piece of paper and a pen, but she had found an envelope in which to mail it, too.

When she finished, she had compiled this list:

Computer
Swim to me puppy (A whaaaat?!?!?!)
American Girl doll (Rebecca or Julie)
Plume the kitty (for Nathan, always thinking of her brother)
Holly Moose (http://www.buildabear.com/shop/productdetail.aspx?CallingPage=Shop/SearchResults.aspx&ProductSKU=13867) – The company that does Build-A-Bear’s advertising should be lauded heavily. When I went to get a pedicure last week, the owner told me that her son, who was also Iz’s age, had asked for Hal Moose. I then wondered if the commercials played background music that masked a subliminal “Ask Santa for Holly and Hal Moose this Xmas!” message!

After Iz made her list, she was “bored,” and I didn’t really feel like running on the treadmill at the gym. And, we did have two Sephora gift cards that were burning holes, flaming holes, in the pockets of our jeans. So, when the going gets boring, the gift-card bearing girls go shopping! We had a plan; we were off to the Burlington Mall!

Before we left, I saw Iz grab her letter to Santa off of the kitchen table. I said, “We can mail that on the way to the mall.” She said, “Mom, we can bring it to Macy’s!” Again, the power of the TV commercial is amazing!

When we got to the mall, she said she was hungry. There’s a great restaurant there called the Rainforest Café (http://www.rainforestcafe.com/). So, it was decided that the game plan was food, Sephora, and Macy's.

Over her macaroni and cheese, she grilled me once again about Santa.

“Does Santa get sick?”
“Probably.”
“If he does, who delivers the presents? The elves or Fred Claus.”
“Fred Claus.”
“Is Fred Claus Santa’s cousin or brother?”
“Um, second cousin on his mother’s side but two times removed.”
“What’s removed?”
“Hey, look at that this dessert, Iz! Chocolate pudding, crumbled Oreos, and gummy worms!”

Upon leaving, we, or rather Iz, got sucked in by the toy shop on the way out of the cafe. Iz became fixated on the huge selection of stuffed animals. I looked at her and said, “No more stuffed animals, Iz.”

As I looked longer at the stuffed animals, a black and white furry animal caught my eye. I picked it up off the shelf. Iz looked at me, and I could see, even if she wasn’t saying it out loud, she was saying, “Oh, Mom so loves that stuffed animal and so do I!”

I said, “This lemur is cute, Iz.” And, I hadn’t known what a lemur was until that moment. Of course, in real life, the lemur probably reeked of musk, had sharp teeth, and bit so hard that digits could be removed in an instant! Sufficed to say, we left the Rainforest Café with a stuffed lemur named, um, Sprinkles.

After we left the café, we headed to Sephora. Iz is a wild woman when unleashed there. Okay, so am I! The first thing she does is go right to the nail polish. The first thing I always do is go right to the perfume. We both had different agendas; however, after a two-minute huddle, we had a game plan.

Iz decided she didn’t want the blue nail polish she picked out upon immediately entering the store. Instead, she wanted lip gloss. I knew exactly what I wanted. I had known for months!

We put the blue nail polish back, and then I picked up my Hermes perfume, Un Jardin En Mediterranee to be exact. Iz is a lip gloss girl, and when she saw a compact sporting five different colors, one of which was gold glitter, she said, “I want this!”

We headed to the register. She looked in our basket. She got a lip gloss compact for $10, and I got the $90 Hermes perfume. Um, yes, there was a definite disparity between my purchase and Iz’s, considering we had $100 to spend between the two of us; however, as far as she's concerned, and until she starts asking prices, we're even because as she said, "You got one, and I got one, right?" Don’t tell Iz. This is just between you and me!

After that, we headed to Macy’s to put Iz’s letter to Santa in the mailbox. Macy’s was wall-to-wall with people, and I had no idea where to go. As we walked through the Cosmetics department, I asked one sales associate, “Where is the mailbox for Santa?” She said, “Oh, follow me.” We followed her to a corner not far from the cosmetics area, and she said, “Here!”

There was a table set up next to the mailbox, and two children sat at the table writing their letters. I gave Iz her letter, and she hesitated. I said, “Here. Go put it in the box.” She didn’t want to leave my side for some reason. I said, “Go on. It’s okay. Put your letter in the box.”

She ran over and put her letter in quicker than I could say, well, pretty much anything! It was like she was one of “The Incredibles!” And here’s the picture to prove it.



I found it funny that she was so afraid. It was not a terrified fear; it was the fear of something unknown and magical. Today, I felt myself very fortunate, because I got to feel that, albeit second hand. And, the best thing was that I knew I'd get to feel that way for at least a few more years. ♥

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