The Cost of Christmas Magic

Lately everything has been carefully monitored by how much it costs and if it really is a necessity. Spending $25 to sit on Santa’s lap and get a poor quality photo was not on the necessity list and I have been putting it off for weeks. Today I threw that out the window and finally said, “Yes!” to Jadyn’s pleadings to go and talk to Santa. She has asked every day since Thanksgiving. She wanted to go and see Santa and give him an enormous hug. She has even had Jenna start asking me over the last week. Well, today was the day.

We got up and went to our outdoor mall only to discover that Santa does not arrive until noon. (We were there at 9:45 – and it was cold this morning!) Since I didn’t want to disappoint my kids, we took off for an indoor mall. Santa was our very first stop.

The girls were so excited standing in line. They could not stand still for a second! At last it was our turn and Jadyn rushed to Santa, almost knocking him over with a HUGE hug! He just laughed, “Ho, Ho, Ho!” and Jadyn giggled. Jenna didn’t knock him over, but she was so happy to be able to sit on his lap.

Hyrum did remarkably well (no crying or fussing) for his first visit to Santa. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about sitting on a stranger’s lap, but he did OK.

They allowed me to take some photos of the kids talking to Santa while the “official” photo was being processed. I LOVE these pictures! This is why a visit to Santa was important. Both of the girls had Santa’s undivided attention for a few minutes as they told him exactly what was on their Christmas list and listened to him tell them that he was proud of them for being good girls and listening to Mom. It was so sweet to watch.

The rest of our mall visit was also costly…a ride on the carousel and a snack to tie us over until we got home. Ugggh. I am normally more prepared, but I wasn’t intending to be gone for so long.

Riding the 2 story carousel was a lot of fun. Hyrum sat on the elephant for a minute, but asked, "Down, Down!" He likes to sit on the seat and watch the girls go up and down.

Pure Enjoyment is a real treasure.

My kids had a wonderful day. The highlight was seeing Santa, but playing and riding the carousel were also treats. On the way home, we sang Christmas songs until I noticed that I was the only one singing. Yep…all sound asleep.

So, the day cost me about $35 (ouch), but the experience was priceless.