Houston, We Have a Problem

On the books today was the yearly visit with Santa. I thought I might try to prime the pump a bit before we got there.

"So Aiden, what are you going to ask Santa for this year?"

"I'm asking him for something that's a secret from you," he said slyly.

"You know Santa always calls me for approval before he brings you stuff so you might as well tell me now," I let him know.

"Okay, I'm asking him for a pet...anything that is really alive," was his response.

"Bud, we've talked about this. You're not old enough to take care of a living thing and I'm sure not going to do it. I'm going to tell Santa not to bring one of those."

"Aww," he moaned. "Well then I'll just ask him for an Xbox."

"Um, that's going to be vetoed too," I told him. "We already have a Wii and certainly do not need two video gaming systems. What about if you just ask Santa to bring you some surprises?" He was a bit disappointed but finally relinquished.

When our turn came, the kids sat so nicely and smiled for us. They each took their turns giving a request to Santa. Try as I might, I couldn't hear a thing over the noise of the mall.

As we were walking away, I asked Aiden how he liked seeing Santa.

"It was good," he said.

"What did you ask him for?"

"I just asked for a Lego Star Wars game for the Wii..." I felt relieved that I had gotten my point across, "that and for you to be pregnant."