Christmaspalooza 2010

It must be known that for a solid month before Christmas, Jane told every person she met that Santa would be bringing her Nala (from The Lion King) and Elliot a Dalmatian (from 101 Dalmatians). She even saw Santa 3 times, every time affirming with the jolly man that he would, indeed, bring Nala. Although Santa continued to give non-committal "I'll try"s to the request, she remained confident that he would deliver.

Two days prior to Christmas, Jane woke up, looked at me and said "Mama, Santa bring me Lion King book." because apparently my darling daughter is tired of checking it out at the library every time we go.

I told her we'd have to see if Santa's elves could make it in time. She, with her unwavering faith, simply said, "he get it. Santa get it."

The red man did not disappoint.

I would like to point out my sacrifice in the following video clip. My vanity is taking a sharp hit here. I originally posted a video where I was edited from the shot, but that took out Jane's triumphant discovery of what Santa had brought to her. I published this post with said edited video, but knowing how much my husband loves her joy and quick "cheese" to the camera, I went back to the original video. I am now hiding in my closet for the rest of winter and now understand why mothers the world over shy away from the video camera. Enjoy:


It was a marvelous Christmas. During Jane, Elliot and Lane's naps, I took sheer joy at staring out onto the carnage of Christmas. My neurotic tendencies didn't win over for another 2 hours, I enjoyed staring at the mess that much.

On December 27, Jane came down for breakfast, looked up at me and said "Mama, Santa find me Lion King movie." It wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact.

I responded with, "Oh, baby. It's another year -- a long time -- before Santa comes again.
She paused for half a minute, looked very thoughtful and then looked at me again and said "Well, then, Santa can find it. It a long time. Santa find Lion King."
We've already penned that letter to the North Pole (where, as Jane constantly reminds me, troodons live).