Terror in Red

It's that time of year again when we have the opportunity to terrorize our toddlers.

Whose brilliant idea was it to try to get innocent little two- and three-year-olds to not only accept candy from a weirdly dressed old man but then to go sit on his lap?

We were all prepared yesterday afternoon to watch the Princess and Little Man screech in horror at their first encounter with St. Nick. The Princess did not disappoint. She hung onto her daddy for dear life and couldn't escape fast enough. Little Man walked right up to him and gladly took the green candy cane, then even sat on his lap... for about two seconds. But the brave little soldier didn't whimper, just said "Bye Santa" and headed for the cookies.

Unlike last year when Littlest Ms. treated us to hysterical screaming, this year she was hesitant but compliant. Little Ms., skeptical at age seven was I think checking out his beard to see if it was real. Mr. Eris, Jr. was simply a good sport to get the candy cane.

$ .62 (it was 2 degrees on our front porch at 7 am with icy roads. ugh.)