"I think Santa must be really tall..."

One of the highlights of Christmas Day was hearing my 7-year-old niece, C. in California, breathlessly relate her experience with Santa this year. She barely got out “Hi” before she launched into her tale. My sister-in-law was sitting nearby, throwing in the occasional tidbit to add to the dramatic tension. In those moments, C. would abruptly say, “Hold on!” as in, “Wait! There’s more!”

“Hi. We left cookies outside for Rudolph? And he ATE them! And Santa put a gold star on top of our tree! And he left me presents!” “Oh! What did he leave you!” “I got a stereo! And he left me two CD’s!” “Yeah? What were the CD’s?” “One was (I've forgotten what she said) and I’ve been looking EVERYWHERE for that CD!” “What was the other one?” “Oh,” sounding unenthused, “it was a Disneymania one.” “And he left a note that he likes our new puppy!” (They recently got a pug which C. has inappropriately named Jasmine.) “And he said, ’Sorry I couldn’t hang up your stocking, but it’s TOO HEAVY!’ ‘Cause we have these hooks? To hang the stockings on? But (snickering) mine was so full he couldn’t even hang it back up! Hold on!…Mom thought she heard sort of a ’Ho! Ho! Ho!’ but she thought it was Dad! But Dad was SLEEPING! Hold on!…Mom thought she was dreaming. But I don’t think it was a dream--I think it was REAL!” “Gee, Mommy must have heard Santa in the house and she didn’t even realize it.” “Uh-huh. He came through the front door this year.” “Well I can understand that--he probably gets tired of getting all dirty climbing down everyone’s chimneys.” “Uh-huh. Oh! And he broke our chair! We have this chair? And it has a broken leg? But we put it back on? But when I got up this morning, it was broken! I think Santa must have been holding our puppy and he sat down in the chair and broke it. (pause) I think he must be really tall.” “Because you have a really tall tree this year?” “Yeeeaaaah, it’s at least 7 feet! And he put a star on TOP of it! Do you want to talk to Sissy (her 14-year-old sister) now?” “Sure! What did Santa bring her?” “Oh, they’re (her sister and brother) too old. They didn’t get anything from Santa. He only brings stuff to little kids.”

My sister-in-law said that C.’s wish list this year was for a cell phone (and I must really be out of it to be shocked that 2nd graders are now clamoring for cell phones), a computer (her sister and brother each have one, as do Mom and Dad) or a stereo. She explained to C. that Santa could only bring gifts that she approved of, so when C. saw that Santa had brought her a stereo, she announced to the room, “This is the gift that Mom preferred.”