The curse of the Santa Claus

I’ll be the first to admit that Syona doesn’t always qualify to be on Santa’s “nice” list. But, for the most part, she’s a pretty good girl and Santa hasn’t left her any coal (yet). But there is one thing that we have a challenge with year after year: Getting her out for a visit with our local mall Santa. This is the third year, and I’m beginning to wonder if a Santa visit is in the cards for her.

The first year, Syona had only been home from the hospital for a couple of months. Our doctor warned us that her immune system was slightly more sensitive than the average infant because of her complicated start. We were told to be a bit more cautious about germs so we decided that a visit to the big guy (and his big red coat filled with the hopes, dreams, wishes, snot, tears and slobber of children around the world) was probably not the best idea.

Year two: Syona was sick — for the entire month. Her first illness was just a common cold. The second illness (that immediately followed the first one) was a nasty virus that left her miserable for a few weeks. Again, a visit to Santa was not a good idea.

So that brings us to this year. I had big plans. I mean, really big plans. After all, this was the moment I (uhh, I mean she) had been waiting for. Two entire years in the making. This was it. I even had a morning carved out for the visit (last Friday in case you were curious). On Sunday evening, Dilip announced that he wasn’t feeling well. By Monday he was running a high fever — so off to the doctor he went. He came home with a prescription, and instructions to rest. But I had my eyes on the prize — an end-of-week visit with Santa (with or without Daddy).

Everything was still (sort of) on track. I was so certain that this was going to happen that I made plans to catch up with a couple of my mommy friends at the same mall. Amazing, right?

Wrong. The day before our planned visit, I started to feel a big lump in my throat. This is usually the first warning sign that I’m getting sick. But I drank a whole lot of water, crossed my fingers and carried on with the day. By evening I was certain: I was the newest victim of Dilip’s most recent illness. He wasn’t feeling well enough to take Syona to see Santa, and I definitely wasn’t up to rallying for the cause and taking Syona myself.

So that was it. Three years of Santa and no cheesy picture of Syona sitting (or screaming) in his lap. Lucky for us, Santa hasn’t forgotten about Syona and, despite the fact that she hasn’t been able to go and see him, he has come to our house and left our (mostly) nice daughter lots of presents. And as for Syona’s first visit with Santa, I guess — errr hope — that there is always next year.

From my family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy holiday season.

Do your kids go for an annual visit with Santa? Do you have any family traditions around the holidays?