Santa!

Evan visited Santa for the first time!!! Dave, Evan and I went down town to Michigan Avenue and made our way to the 900 North Shops to meet Santa. We grabbed some hot beverages and waited about 45 minutes to see the 'not-so-jolly' old man dressed in red. Despite his 'real' white beard and round belly that shook when he laughed, Santa insisted on conversing with us while a line of 30+ people, mainly eager children waiting to share their wish list with the man. It's no wonder it took us 45 minutes to reach the front of the line! Jeez! After wishing Santa a "Happy Holidays" as opposed to the traditional "Merry Christmas", Santa looked at me like I had two heads. I told him that I'm teacher and that we are encouraged to wish our students a "Happy Holiday" or "Season's Greetings" because of the evolution of our student population. I could see and hear the anger he held inside him as he quickly said with a sneer in his eye, "Screw Happy Holidays, we're in America. We celebrate Christmas!" and continued to share with me his knowledge of the only two Christmas songs that don't have a Christmas relation, Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells. It got me thinking, are there any other so-called Christmas songs that have lyrics without a Christmas affiliation?!?!

Putting my tainted view of Santa aside, I wished him a "Merry Christmas" as he gave Evan a cute beige stuffed bear. So thankful that Ev liked him and didn't hear a word come out of 'Dear Santa's' mouth :0)