Talking to Strangers

Today I watched my children walk up to a complete stranger, sit on his lap, and take candy from him!

That's right - we visited Santa Claus, and it's the first year the kids have been into it.

It's a really nice set-up. Breakfast with quiet Santa in the corner. Not overwhelming for our kids last year - wanted to look but not touch. Veronica watched one friend walk up to him and immediately walked over to wait for her turn.

She let Santa take the lead, he guessed right - she wants dolls. Baby dolls and Barbie dolls.

Thomas was working hard on gathering the nerve. Santa eventually inticed him with the job of jingling the bells.

Thomas then shared that he wanted three costumes: 1) Black Spiderman; 2) Bumblebee Transformer; and 3) Superman.

Veronica didn't want to leave and plopped down for a front row seat to listen to the other kids talk to Santa. She was quiet entertained by it.

We then joined our friends for crafts, including cooking decorating.

Later in the day we were talking about their visit with Santa. Thomas felt like he'd made a real connection apparently, "Some people call him Santa, but I call him Saint Nicholas." Santa's not such a stranger anymore!