Perception

My daughter is sometimes so perceptive that I forget she’s only 3.  Well, closer to 4, but I can’t think about that yet.  On Friday we went to visit Santa at the mall.  She was a little shy but pretty happy so that was good.

Good old Santa Claus.  Please excuse her shoes – I had to hide these permanently because she insisted on wearing them everywhere even though it is 25 degrees outside.  I told her they went in the summer bin and she’s now wearing socks and sneakers.  So victory for me.

Anyway, yesterday was our 34th annual Montalto family Christmas party, and my cousin dressed up as Santa to give gifts out to the kids.  Here is Charlotte on his lap:

Still happy, still smiling.

BUT.  When Santa walked in she came over to me immediately and said.  “But where are Santa’s glasses?  I like the Santa with the glasses on.”  It never occurred to me, not for a minute, that she would notice a detail such as glasses and realize that mall Santa and party Santa weren’t the same.  I was at a loss for words, but my mom helped me out and said this Santa was one of Santa’s helpers.  So then later on, when she asked me again about the glasses, I told her Santa sends out other Santas as his representatives to give gifts out to the kids at parties, but the Santa with glasses is the real one and he’s the man who will be delivering the presents on Christmas Eve.  She seemed fine with this answer, so I hope she just gets into the magic and I don’t have to explain anything further, because I never thought she’d be questioning the legitimacy of Santa Claus based on a pair of glasses.