Thoughts on Santa

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I'm not too worried about the what the fat man does. In Chicago, he brings either one big thing for two girls
- last year - play station 2
- several years back our best present ever - jumbo tumbos, 8 velcoing gym mat shapes that make a plane or a house, or a mountain. They were $200, but they still get used today.
or he brings about three things per kid (which is where we are this year).

Tracey and I were off to our second round of gift buying last week (Santa was done) and we were having a difficult time finding anything we wanted to buy. We wound up frustrated, but basically rationalizing that we weren't going to buy just to buy. We bought nothing. Two days later, she found the last gift for Melinda (the game Stratego (perhaps my siblings recall not playing that with me (I'm certain Susan does ("PLEASE play Stratego with me!"))). We purchased our final gift yesterday - 40 new born diapers that we're going to stock in a diaper bag and give to Gretchen for Lucia Margarita (her cabbage patch kid).

Everyone knows our gift room is the guest room. So far as I know, no one searches. One year for my birthday, there was a sign posted that said, "Dad is not checkt (sic) out the guest room." The Santa presents and Tracey presents are in the bathroom. Last night we wrapped for one another together, separated by a couch

I don't worry about the ambiguity of what does Santa does, and what do M&D do. Previously, stockings had been the exclusive preserve of the fat man. Shopping today at Walgreens, the girls were lusting after something so I let them each select a stocking stuffer for one another. No bickering!

Melinda called me out on the tooth fairy two+ years ago. I think she's probably humoring me on Santa, but it really hasn't come up this year. The answer if it does come up is "ABSOLUTELY Santa is real!"

We identify new traditions all the time. Just this week I learned that we always do lasagna for Christmas eve dinner (note that the Mystic Seaport Christmas memories book bears out the tradition). This year, I get to make it (which means I get to pick how to make the sauce too). Melinda is taking over filling out the memories book this year, breaking a "Rob" tradition of filling it out in June.

Wishing you are yours a merry one...

Rob

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