Beware of Strange Men Bearing Gifts

There's obviously something about us as parents that screams "ASK FIRST!". We have had nearly every single person who knows us ask if we are 'doing' the Santa thing with Harriet. Considering that it is mostly a given in this society, it is truly lovely to have so many people respect our family and ask about these things beforehand - so thank you, sincerely.

The answer, of course, is not really. There were some great suggestions in a UP group I'm on about how to broach the topic and how to address complications that arise (like your child being the 'snitch' for other children, dealing with adults asking if Harry has been "good enough for Santa"...*sigh*). The one we liked the most and that we're going to run with is telling Harriet that people like to pretend that there is a man called Santa and he brings everyone presents. When you go out you see a man pretending to be Santa at Christmas time. And that if she asks if we believe in Santa we'll say that Santa isn't really for adults to believe in and that if she wants to then she can.

Sounds a little clinical perhaps but Harry has taken it all in her stride (as she does). At playgroup they had a big Christmas party with a 'Santa'. We were told to bring a book for a present to be given out and a plate of food for everyone to hoe into. Me being the stick-in-the-mud that I am, took some hummous and vegies and crackers. Have to say though that the food went down really well with the children, who all loved to use the dip without necessarily involving implements.

In preparation for the Santa exposure, I had been mentioning it casually for a couple of days prior that there would be a man dressed up as Santa at the playgroup party. She also knew that she'd be receiving a present - which she for some reason told me was a book when we were driving there. How on earth did she know that?

She was very brave and walked up to Santa on her own but at the last minute asked me to hold her hand for the last couple of steps. She then sat down and very properly and slowly unwrapped her present. You can see in the previous photo that she pulled one very long piece off in one go very carefully. And lo adn behold...Olivia! We have to thank Miss Linda for Harry's love of Olivia books and it has grown bigger and bigger. We sat down and read Olivia helps with Christmas twice straight away.

The other big event of the day was Harriet decided to climb up on this tunnel climbing frame completely on her own! Actually I did help her in one spot, but I was comfortable enough to leave her be in order to take the photos anyway. She of the tentative climbing! She still can't jump but she's working out other ways to get off the ground.