Ho, Ho, Huhh???

We took the children to visit Santa over the weekend. He and Mrs. Claus hosted a doughnut breakfast at Shawn's church and the kids have been making their lists in anticipation of the visit with the big man.

Last year was the first year the kids were really dialed into the whole magic of Christmas thing. Christmas morning they came down the stairs to find the cookies eaten, the milk drank and a HUGE mess in the refrigerator. Apparently, Rudolph and the gang got hungry and started poking around in the frig. There were bits of carrots and celery everywhere! We thought the magic reindeer food we sprinkled on the front lawn would be enough but they must have come barging into the house looking for more. The kids were amazed at the mess and talked about how Santa must not have been watching the reindeer very closely as he was putting that train under our tree.

I really hadn't thought much of it until yesterday when we went to see Santa. RocketMan, my legalist son, was waiting patiently for his turn talking about what he wanted for Christmas. Soon it was his turn and up he marched to sit with Mrs. Claus and Santa. I guess RocketMan was nervous. Suddenly he turned on Santa and started accusing him of severe neglect in a loud harsh voice.

RocketMan heatedly berated him as he said, "Santa, you better watch those reindeer more this year. They made a huge mess in our kitchen and we had to clean it up! It is was not nice! You need to be more careful with our things. The reindeer are your job. Don't let them make another mess this year!"

Santa sat in stunned silence but luckily, like any good wife, Mrs. Clause saved him. She said, "Oh, sometimes they do make a mess but the best thing is to leave the carrots out on a plate for them so they don't get in the refrigerator."

Santa recovered from his shock and asked RocketMan, "What toys would you like this year, little boy?"

RocketMan dismissively said, "You'll get my list. I'll mail it on December 12." Then L walked away.

Luckily the other two children were a bit nicer to this icon of Christmas cheer and didn't make me feel like we had completely failed in my parenting skills!

Note to self: Don't allow RocketMan unsupervised time with magical creatures.

I'm thinking the reindeer need to make an even bigger mess this year as a sort of protest. Maybe carrots in RocketMan's bed? What do you think? Any ideas?