Santa! I KNOW him!

I came to the conclusion tonight that waiting in line for Santa pictures is worse than waiting at the DMV. At the DMV you take a number and sit. In the Santa line you stand for an hour and a half around a bunch of screaming kids. Really. An hour and a half.

But it was still fun. Ryder and I took the time to talk about the reason Santa comes. Ryder knows that Santa brings gifts to us so we remember the birth of our Savor, Jesus Christ. Just like the three wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus, Santa brings us gifts to celebrate.

Once we finally got close enough to see Santa, Ryder was overcome with excitement. He jumped up and down and squealed. It made the hour and a half totally worth it.

When it was his turn he ran as fast as he could up to Santa and jumped up on his lap. It was clear to me in that moment...my baby is getting old. Last year he cried. This year he was all about telling Santa he was a very good boy this year and wants a red car (big shock) for Christmas.

I jokingly told Santa Ryder wants "an official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time". When Santa looked at me like he was going to award me "Worst Mom of the Year" award for saying my two year old should have a BB gun for Christmas, I realized, he has obviously never seen A Christmas Story. It was totally over his head. I guess they don't have that movie up at the North Pole.

Aside from Santa's major flaw of never seeing A Christmas Story, I thought he was great. He was quite jolly and his belly appeared to be made of jelly. All the requirements of a nice Santa.