santa knows me

christmas is really magical to me and i've been so excited to introduce all of the wonder to finley in traditions and memories. we have three christmas trees, we do elf on the shelf, we have chocolate advent calendars, and we talk about santa and wait for his big night on christmas eve. through it all, i try to remind finley of the magic that is giving and that as fun as it is to get presents, it is wonderful to give gifts and show others kindness during the season (and obviously, year round).



to me, santa is such a wonderful concept. i love everything about santa and it seems finley is at the age where he does, too. we took him to see santa at our Y and he could hardly contain himself. instead of being shy or nervous he walked right up and let santa place him right on his lap. he smiled and looked right at santa, answering that he was a good boy (or girl, since santa had a hard time with this...). and he expertly delivered his gift list as he has been for days: "teddy bears, planes, trains, trucks, cars". he didn't want to leave and his sparkling eyes were fixated on that jolly old man.

tonight in preparation of riding chicago's "holiday express", the santa train, i played him a video we created online. you can input your child's name and some details and santa delivers a tailored message to your little one. we did this last year and finn enjoyed it then, but he was amazed this year. he saw his picture on santa's "finley" book (that's me!) and he was so excited to get a peak into the toy workshop.

he asked me to watch it again, so we did. a minute or so into it, again with his twinkling eyes watching santa with wonder, he softly said, "santa knows me". and it took everything in me not to scoop that precious boy up and hug him, teary eyed and happy over the magic of the season. "santa knows me."

we waited for over 20 minutes to ride the holiday express and when it finally arrived, finn was ecstatic. the train is decorated with lights and garland and santa's elves hand out candy canes upon entering. when we eventually hopped off to switch trains, we got to see santa as he was whisked off via train (he rides outside on a flat car). as we waited (and waited) for the next train, we were treated to a round trip view of santa's train. at our stop, finn was able to walk right up to santa, where he waved and said hello. santa looked right at him and chatted. finn was so proud when santa said, " i like your hat!" (a new red one) and when he said "i'll see you soon", i know finn believed it.