Visit to Santa 2008

 

Well, I thought maybe this years visit to Santa would go a little better for Evan but not so. I had discussed it with him ahead of time to try and get an idea of whether he was still scared of Santa or not and he seemed really excited to go this year. Ava of course was oblivious but I think Evan was trying to be brave for her sake. When we were waiting in line we watched the kids in front of us get their picture taken so he would know what to expect and then we went to see Santa for ourselves. The kids sat on his knee and the photographers started snapping away trying to get a decent picture but Evan started acting strange and wouldn't look at me or the camera. He just froze and stared at the floor. After three takes I realized that he was scared out of his skin. He was trying so hard to be brave that the poor guy sat there, petrified, in case maybe this Santa guy might be the real deal and actually bring him some presents. Afterwards I looked at the photo and noticed that Santa and Ava both have this nice rosy glow and Evan is white as a ghost. I almost cried from all my mom guilt. The next day I asked Evan what he thought was so scary about Santa and he said "he's a really big man". I asked if there was anything else and he said "I didn't like it when he pulled my face towards him". It didn't register at the time but I realized Santa did turn Evan's chin towards him so he could talk to him. Poor Evan, I hope he's not too traumatized.