she's on to you, santa!

Sarah has been wondering about Santa Claus for a while now. While I think she really wants him to be real, she doubts his existence just a little bit. I have been hesitant to confirm or deny his existence and have just asked her what she thinks whenever the subject comes up. I think her days as a believer may have come to an end. Because Mr. Claus likes to let the kids stay up late (even on Christmas Eve) and allowed them to watch a movie with the neighbor kids, we had a little mishap where Mrs. Claus was tired and didn't want to stay up all night performing elfish Christmas tricks and decided to get an early start on present wrapping in the other room behind a closed door. She got sidetracked, however, by a certain three-year-old and left the present wrapping chaos out while she went to attend to his needs. It was then that disaster struck as the kids went into the room behind the closed door to get their coats in order to head home and Sarah saw the spin brush that she has been talking about for weeks. She may have also seen the Christmas stockings in the process of being filled up to the tip top with all kinds of treasures. When she headed off to bed, she couldn't stop talking about the desired spin brush and how receiving it would make all of her dreams come true.

Morning came and she was up bright and perky just before 7:00. I tried to convince her that it was the middle of the night and that she should go back to sleep to no avail. Fortunately for her Zach was soon awake also, and the Christmas frenzy began. She was spoiled rotten. Mrs. Claus was so excited about how excited Sarah would be by so many different things that she just had to get all of them. Mr. Claus got her a few things as well. And when you have gifts from other family members as well, you turn out to be spoiled rotten. It was exciting to see that she was thrilled with everything-her new spin brush perhaps most of all. Of course, maybe the purple unicorn pillow pet was the big hit. Or the doll house that she has been asking for for years. Or the bike that we promised her last Christmas. Or the DS games that she has been dreaming of but not begging for (Lego Harry Potter and Mario Party). Or the Playmobil princess sets she picked out ages ago when Grandma was here. Or the puffy vest and fleece jacket she styled while shopping with Grandma and has worn every single day since.

Later in the afternoon when things had calmed down, she came over and sat by me and asked if I had bought the spin brush for her. I told her that I had. Then, pointing at something that Zach received, she asked if I had bought that. I told her yes. Then she asked me if I had bought all of the things. In true not wanting to expose the Santa secret fashion, I asked her what she thought. She didn't respond. This may be the Christmas that she will remember best because she almost knew the truth but still wanted to believe just a little bit the magic that is Santa.