Who is that guy dressed like Santa?

Really? The magic of Christmas is lost on Katie already? Nooooooo....

The funny thing about being a mom is that you have to hold your tongue even when you don't want to at times, ensuring that your children will experience all the magic and awe of childhood. Which is often accompanied and then followed by feelings of deception and heartache. Poor Bella is so busy trying to figure out her world that the notion of Santa Claus sliding down our (non-existent) chimney is beyond her. Not to mention all the effort it would take him to hook up his reindeer, make them fly and get to every single child's home on the planet in one day. At first I didn't think she was a believer at all. Then I came to the realization that she DOES believe in Santa- however she feels that he is a better delegator than the cartoons and carols would have you believe. So when we went to the mall to "sit on Santa's lap" at first she just stood by the gate like: "This is the real deal" but then you could just see her examining the situation and she looked at me and said "you know this isn't really him right?" WTF "Ah OK Bella who is it then?" "This is someones grandpa, like Papa (Tim's dad who looks just like a typical greeting card would depict Father Christmas) who is just filling in for Santa... okay... but he works for him and he will tell him my message." (wait three beats...) "Whew!" I was a little worried there for a second. So the girls took their turns sitting on "Santa's" lap and they got their picture snapped and a tasty treat for the walk back out to the car. We really were not supposed to take any pictures but the people working at the east town mall are so sweet they let me sneak in there to take a shot (I didn't really ask though either-- that way they can't officially say no) so we were on our way home during one of the first snow falls of the year and boy it was beautiful. Its funny how in about a month or so from now I will be regretting having said this--- on Wisconsin!