Santa Claus Has Come to Town

The sirens were now down-right annoying. I hadn't noticed the high-pitched wails until their unrelenting third full minute. There was nothing I could do except to make sure the windows were closed and turn up the music in our apartment. Air Boss was away in Boston on a business trip and it was just the kids and me at home.

Five-year old 'Shroom and three-year old Lolli were playing upstairs when we heard the doorbell ring. The two kids froze and stared wide-eyed at each other. "Who's that?" Lolli asked (one could tell from their reaction that we still have yet to make friends who would make use of our doorbell).

It was our next door neighbor.

"Do you hear the police sirens?" she asked in what I assume was a rhetorical question. "That means that Santa is here. Come outside and see!"

By the time the kids had put on their shoes and made it out the door, Santa was already swarmed by kids on our block. The Redondo Beach Police Department had used two of their cruisers to cordon off our block. In the middle of the street was a weird looking boat-like contraption on wheels. It was Santa in his red "sleigh" with an RBPD cruiser filling in for his absent reindeer team.

"Hurry!" a femal officer waved at us to come over. "If the kids want to sit on Santa's lap, you have to hurry. He's going to be leaving soon!"

'Shroom and Lolli were confused by the commotion, the crowd, the strange main the red suit, and the fact that they had to line up. As we waited for their turn, I had to give them a crash course on Santa. "Just sit on Santa's lap and tell him what things you like." Bam. Done. It was now their turn.

The two gingerly sat on Santa's lap as if he were a public restroom toilet seat. They were so shy that Santa had to ask them to speak up. As the man leaned closer, I heard 'Shroom yell, "Dinosaurs!" When Santa - now deaf in one ear - asked if that was what he wanted for Christmas, my son sported one confused look on his face. It was an awkward moment. Nonetheless, the kids each received a lollipop and got off the sleigh.

They were the last two kids on our block to see Santa. And as the kids and their parents lined the street to see Santa escorted by flashing lights and police sirens, Lolli turned to me and said very loudly and very well within earshot of the entire block, "Santa is not a real person. He's just pretend!"

I was mortified. Not so much at Lolli's albeit-very-true comment but at the fact that my preschooler may have ruined the "magic" of Santa for dozens of kids in our neighborhood.

"Shhh! For some people, Christmas is about Santa." I tried to impart some damage control in a loud whisper.

As I struggled to hurry the kids back home with what felt like unfriendly stares at our back, Lolli exclaimed, "That's not right. Christmas is about Baby Jesus' birthday!"

And thus, with the Christmas lights on palm trees and the 65 degree weather, was the start of our first Christmas experience in California.

[WBE update: since the writing of this account, 'Shroom and Lolli are full-fledged fans of the man in the red suit thanks to public school education and the ubiquitous commercialization of Christmas. Fortunately they know that all the gifts are really from Jesus!]