I know, it's early to be thinking about Christmas.  But my  neighbor already has her Christmas tree up, so why not? 

I mean, for some people, Christmas always comes too early. But then for others, you can't get enough Christmas.  And this year, I'm not gonna fault anybody for doing something that brings them some positivity.  Jeez, haven't we been through it enough? If it makes Sandra happy to get out her snowman doilies, leave her be!  It ain't hurtin you none!

But thinking about Christmas got me to wondering how we're going to handle all of this with the Coronavirus still very much out there and still very much a problem.  Our county saw a pretty significant spike in cases after Halloween.  It might be smart to think of ways to give our kids the good memories that come with the Holidays, without spending a lot of time standing in line with a big crowd.

Everybody needs to do their own bit, right?

Sure, it's a bummer, but you don't have to go without a visit from Santa this year.  It just might not be in person.  There's a website out there that can help. It's called Talk to Santa Claus. You go to the site, you choose a day and a time, tell them how many kids, their first names, and that appears to be pretty much it.  Then, at your appointed time, your kid gets TEN MINUTES with Santa!  Ten minutes!  I don't know about you, but that's a capital U Uprgade from what I got as a kid.  You stood in line with other bratty kids at the bank, waiting for your turn, and then you got like, two minutes with the guy and you were moved on.  And he didn't sing no song with me or read me a story!  Bonus!

 Santa will greet your child/children with love and affection and ask a series of open ended questions to engage them in conversation. Depending on how the session goes, a Christmas song may be sung or a reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

That's like, spending proper time with Santa.  And if your kid is shy, they won't be intimidated as much by actually having to sit in his lap.  You can just have a nice talk with Santa!  And it's not just about the presents! Santa is going to Engage you in Conversation.  Like, real talk.  You know, the kind of good wholesome stuff that reminds the kids it's not all about the gifts.  And it would definitely reinforce the "Santa knows" thing.  I know if I was a five year old right now, and Santa called me by my name without asking for it, specifically called me to talk on my Mom's computer...wow.  That would be huge.

You know, when you're adult, you always look at what the kids get nowadays and you think, "Man, I wish I had that when I was a kid!  That would have been so cool!" This is definitely one of those times.  Instead of a somewhat distracted guy in an ill fitting suit that vaguely smells like coffee ask me what I want for Christmas, the kids these days get to actually HANG OUT with Santa.  That would have been so cool.

Sure, it's not free, but it's not expensive either.  I think I read it's like, 25 bucks. And you can have multiple kids per session, they just tack on a little extra and you get extra time.  To me, this seems like the perfect solution for all of those parents who still want to give their kids some Christmas magic, but also keep not only their kids, but everyone else safe.

Will you be changing any of your traditions this year?  Will you take your kids to meet Santa, or will you skip this year?

Santaingly yours,
Behka

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