Opportunity from failure....Santa IS real.

So being the prototype for the last-minute planner and coining the theory of on-timeish.....I decide to get my shit together and man up slightly towards the ultimate status of a Pintrest-Mom (crawl before walk, you know)....so, I get tickets IN ADVANCE to see Santa Underground at Ruby Falls...   

After school and homework, the ladies donned their new holiday outfits and we head up the mountain for an epic exploration to the allusive Santa Claus.       She said.   Mama fail.

Turns out, Mr. Claus is not around until Thursday at Ruby Falls....so with some quick thinking and good selling, I make Frazier Avenue shops and dinner sound like Disney Land.  Barely skirting massive disappointment, we make our way back down.   

The shops are adorable and we poke through, trying to find a few gifts for friends constantly arguing about what the girls could not have.   Before the pending melt-down erupted, we rock up to the appropriately named Good Dog for hotdogs and fries.   (side note: it's a hot dog joint on steroids and my Chicago Veggie Dog was write home-able. )

I stand up to take a picture of Mom and the ladies and notice something suspect behind them.  A notable man in his overalls and red plaid shirt.....'whose droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow....   He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly'....  (yes, I can recite the 1822 Clement Clark Moore poem, The Night Before Christmas - so I had all the cross-referencing material I needed to confirm one Santa Claus). 

I keep watching before I say anything as his wife comes to sit down with him.   I could not have dreamt this shit up...she looked just like Mrs. Claus.    

So I quietly tell the girls to look over... the glow, the surprise, the wonderment, the excitement...if only it could be bottled up.    Eating became less important than starring at this poor man trying to have dinner....but we were in total disbelief.   

After my earlier move that send me back to the bottom-feeder-mom-status, I couldn't appreciate more how the law of attraction works and smile knowing there is always opportunity in failure. 

We snuck a photo and the gentleman kindly smiled at Senna and certainly brought more reality to the magic of the holidays than I have ever seen....    Believing is such a beautiful thing.   

Thank you, Sir.   

P.S.  Mr. Clause, In case you didn't understand any of the papers laying around the house with a questionable list of names on them...it is Senna's Christmas request and those are 6 specific American Girl Dolls.  But so you know, she is happy that she's not asking for too much since "it is really one gift because it is a 'group'."  

4/2019 UPDATE: She gave away all her American Girl everything 6 months ago. Go figure.