drama-free St. Nick visit

I knew this day would come. In fact, last year I predicted that it (last year's Santa visit) would likely be the last one filled with Santa-induced angst. Not that I want my children to experience terror. But I admit, I adore/treasure/cherish my extensive collection of Freaked Out Kids with Santa photography. I believe I may have one of the finest collections east of the Mississippi. The dark photo at the end of this post is just one of our many classic Santaphobia moments caught on film.

This year, we headed to our town's Christmas tree lighting event and lined up to meet Santa Claus. Caroline was super excited about it all day long (seriously!); started to have second thoughts while in line; but ultimately went with it. The result?



Three happy kids with Santa (and Mrs.) Claus. I know, yaaaaaaaawn. I mean, I love it because they are my kids and I definitely prefer them to be happy, but it's just missing that extra something you get when the child has trust issues with Santa, like here (a fantastic scientific summary, by the way, and worth a read).

Caroline was so cool with the whole thing this year, in fact, that she went BACK to visit with Santa herself after the big kids had left, holding up the line in the process:



What's next, willingly posing with Goofy? Sniff. My baby's growing up.