After obtaining the much requested Pegasus this holiday season I thought my holiday gift-giving to the kids was complete…
..until our recent trip to the mall.
We had done a fairly good job this holiday season of avoiding the mall and it’s chaos. However the other night found Catherine in need of a haircut and Chuck in need of a few errands, so off we went. It wasn’t until I saw the jolly old elf sitting in all his glory in the middle of the mall that I remembered that it was once again the time of year where swarms of children came to the mall to sit upon his lap, have their photo taken for posterity and share their wishes. As soon as Catherine spied Santa she wanted to see him. I obliged, for truly how can one tell a 4 year old that they can’t stop to talk to Santa? I also quickly realized that somehow this had managed to be the first Santa we had seen all season. This year, the department stores seemed void of Santas. Catherine took her turn visiting with Santa and was very polite throughout the process. We decided to skip the photo opportunity but she gladly accepted a candy cane and positively bubbled with excitement when she was finished.
Then I asked her about her conversation with Santa and things went downhill from there.
” I asked him for a diamond castle doll,” she said proudly.
I was already familiar with the diamond castle doll, it was one of two items that had been included in her letter to Santa.
“Oh, and did you ask for anything else?” I asked her, trying to play innocent.
“No.” she said rather matter-of-factly. “I only asked for one thing.”
“Hmmm,” I replied, still trying to play a bit coy. “I thought in your letter to Santa you wrote down two items on your list? Wasn’t there another toy you asked for? Something to do with Dora?”
“I don’t want that toy anymore,” she told me. “I only want a diamond castle doll.”
I tried to remain calm, but meanwhile my mind was going a mile a minute. Here I had gone to all of this trouble to get her the toy she wanted this Christmas and here she was a week before Christmas telling me she no longer wanted it!
I reminded myself that children were fickle and that I was sure that she would like the presents that she opened just fine and be more than happy with her Dora doll. However I kept having a nagging feeling about the entire situation, especially as she proudly talked to the hair stylist about her visit with her Santa and the diamond castle doll she had asked for, or when she continued to talk about it for the subsequent days following being sure to tell anyone that she could that she has asked for this doll for Christmas.
A few days later I tried to gently remind her of the letter she wrote to Santa, preparing her a bit for the potential disappointment of Santa not bringing everything we ask for.
“You know Catherine, you wrote two things in your letter to Santa, he might be already working on your presents by now. It might be too late for changes,” I told her.
“It’s ok Mom, don’t worry about it,” she told me in response. “I talked to Santa and he said if I was a good girl I would get what I asked for. I told him all about the diamond castle doll so he knows.”
Now of course I realized exactly how precarious this situation was. While I didn’t want to spoil, or overindulge my daughter, I also didn’t want to be the one responsible for breaking Santa’s promise. I also realized that she REALLY thought she had talked to Santa.
I spent several more days doing my best to stick to my guns and my original plan, but finally decided that the world was trying to tell me to just get the damn doll and stop agonizing over it. Friday afternoon when I arrived at daycare to pick up the kids one of the assistants told me that the toys store that she works at part time is closing. She said Catherine had been talking about the diamond castle doll all day and that the dolls were now on clearance if I was interested.
I finally broke down this weekend and picked up one of the dolls on clearance, which made me feel a bit better since I wasn’t paying full price. Of course I picked up one last little item for Max to even the score and now consider myself done.
Perhaps I overthink things too much. In the end I just hope everyone has a happy Christmas.
