santa and the skeptic

We took our annual trip to the mall to see Santa today. I keep thinking that each year might be the last time, but it never gets old to Punk and Kooka.

We barely set foot in the mall - the place is pretty empty - there is no line at Santa's workshop. We're 25 yards from the place and Punk shouts "Santa!!!" He goes barelling through the mall straight into the big guy's lap, wraps his arms around him and says, "Oh Santa - it's so good to see you again. I missed you."

Kooka is excited but a bit more reserved. She asks for a doll that looks just like her, or a blue fuzzy robe - whatever Santa wants to bring. Punk asks for a cage to keep critters in - specifically toads.

The ride home sounds something like this:

Punk: "Isn't Santa just amazing?"
Kooka: "Actually he is a little suspicious."
Punk: "WHAT?! No he isn't!"
Kooka: "O.K. well don't you think it's weird that he never once got stuck in a chimney? Or that he always just happens to be at THIS mall? Or that he always knows when we are asleep? I mean that's like a miracle."
Punk: "I KNOW - I'm 8 and I still can't figure it out."
Kooka looks at me in the rearview mirror. Her eyebrows are up and her eyes are small - she is scanning my face.

I smile at her. This is the same child who tried to convince her big brother to set a trap for the tooth fairy. The one who at age three asked, "How does a little rabbit carry all those baskets? That story cannot be real."

So there we are in the car, the 8 year-old dreamer who truly believes that anything is possible, the 5 year-old skeptic -nobody's fool, who cannot stand to be duped. And me in the middle, remembering - just in case this is our last trip like this.