By Glen Turner – Special to the Sydenham Current
The joys of being a Mall Santa!
… and they are MANY! 🙂As a friend said to me, “It’s an ideal gig for you! You get to sit for three hours at a time, on a comfortable couch, meet tons of new people, and get to run off at the mouth! And you get PAID for it!”
All that is true, but the other joys, mainly the families and the kids, are what makes the experience amazing.
Whether it’s convincing the older sceptical children “Are you really Santa?”, or accepting the hugs of the littler ones, who are just enthralled to see Santa, or the babes-in-arms who have no clue as to what’s going on….well, it can be magic!
I use the languages I know, and wish the kids Merry Christmas in French, German, Spanish or sign language, just to prove that I DO visit all those countries. I comment on how much the little ones have grown since last year… and I’ve even told parents that the crying kids are my favourites! I suggest that they hide those photos, and bring them out on their kid’s wedding day, on a big screen, at the wedding reception!
There are, of course some downsides to this, too.
A tantrum by a 14-month-old resulted in a fist bash to the side of my face.
A tantrum by a 16-month-old resulted in a head bash with the back of his head to my cheek.
There is, of course, the occasional drooler, and, every once-in-a-while, a smelly diaper, but those are out-weighed by the amazing Christmas outfits some of the kids arrive in.
One little guy wouldn’t come close, because he’d seen a “fake” Santa at another function that morning, and the Dad despaired of getting a picture with Santa. It took me two minutes to convince the child that I was “the real thing”. Great photos, happy kid, smiling parents!
Like I said… many, many many joys in being a “Mall Santa”.
