Alexis has already visited Santa this year.
I know, I know.
A ton of you get all sorts of twitchy when I mention anything that has something to do with Christmas when it's not yet Thanksgiving. Well, TOO BAD. If I waited until after Thanksgiving to get all of my Christmas tasks started, I'd be in big trouble, mister. I'd barely manage to get started before Christmas blew past me at 90 mph.
Besides, the Santa thing wasn't really my fault.
Alexis started begging to go see Santa at the mall the very second she found out that her bus driver would be doing a little moonlighting as one of Santa's elves. We positively adore our bus driver, so we didn't mind that Alexis got it into her head that she had to be at the mall promptly upon Santa's arrival. She really just wanted to see her bus driver while she was working her other job, so fine. Whatever.
Off to the mall we went.
In the past, I would have wondered if Alexis would chicken out while waiting in the line. I knew she wouldn't this year because she would be all "Loooook! It's my bus driver!" I was right. She was far too delighted to get to spend more time with the bus driver to stop and notice that she was in the proximity of a slightly senile old man with a beard that HAS to be hiding yesterday's lunch.
So. Here's the thing. Alexis KNOWS about Santa. She figured it out a while ago all on her own, but since she's only five years old, she desparately doesn't want to know. She is determined to alter her own perceptions so that she can keep on believing. She has chosen to think with her heart on this little issue, and her heart is pure and innocent and clings to magic.
She got her photo taken with Santa.
And she was all sorts of giddy and happy and pleased with herself.
Then we got home and she started paying attention to the folder that holds the photograph. Apparently mall Santa is now part of some sort of franchise because several malls in Pittsburgh have this exact same folder. It features two Santas that are very clearly not the Santa she met.
An aside: All of you giving me crap about starting with the Christmas decorating can just back off since Santa has agreed to appear next to the Easter Bunny. That's pretty much giving all of us permission to celebrate all of the holidays year round. SO THERE.
Anyway, the two Santas on the folder are definitely not the Santa that Alexis met. She noticed this fact.
She stared at all three Santas for several minutes.
She looked to me for direction. "Momma, why does this Santa not look like this other Santa?" The tone of her voice made it obvious that she KNOWS THE FREAKIN ANSWER, but she really needed me to give her some sort of out. I could have told her that Santa forgot to take a bath for a week in that photo and she would have been satisfied with that answer. She just needed an excuse to keep believing. Any excuse.
I was a tiny bit too slow answering her question.
Just as I was about to make up some random lame lie, Alexis came up with her own.
"Oh, wait! This is YOUNG Santa. I met OLD Santa!"
The explanation makes no sense whatsoever, but let's just go with it, mmkay?