Santa at the mall

8 days before Christmas on a chilly December evening while my husband was at work, I decided to take my 3 children to our local mall to see Santa.  Crazy.

This was always a big deal for me as a child except the local mall was more then 45 minutes away and we always took the trip to do out Christmas shopping.  Every store had beautiful decorations and the size of the mall always amazed me.  Then we'd go to visit Santa who was always predominantly located in the main area of the hall.  It was filled with children who were excited, nervous, scared, happy or unsure about meeting Santa and their eager parents who wanted to give their children that fun experience of Christmas shopping and meeting Santa.  I enjoy passing down this holiday tradition to my children!

Our mall is about 10 minutes from our house so it's easy to arrange a good time to visit.  I normally visit during the day when it's not as busy but the oldest is in school all day.  So Friday around 6pm was a "good time".

We got on line around 6:30pm.  I was prepared with pretzels and drinks.  Right after we got on line, California Pizza kitchen gave our free slices of pizza and a coupon to come to their establishment.  (AWESOME!)  This definitely kept the mood of the line tolerable because it moved SLOW.  I was afraid I made a huge mistake taking three kids to see Santa.  I couldn't leave the line if one had to pee!  My older two were walking and my youngest was in the stroller - I call it the "kiddie container".  He is at the age of being close to walking but would not stay near us if I allowed him, especially in a line like that.  As we waited my older two made friends with the other kids and the parents all chatted. One Mom gave my kids Elmo stickers to help entertain them.  I mean, what else do you do when you are in line that long?  

After almost 2 hours we FINALLY saw Santa.  My youngest was scared and the older two seemed overwhelmed and a bit intimidated. I held my youngest in the picture - none of them came out great and the best of the best had my eyes closed.  At least the kids looked ok.

Carrying on this fun tradition was worth the effort and exhaustion.  The kids will have the memory of visiting Santa at the 3-floor mall with the giant Christmas tree.  

Although if you ask the kids, they would probably tell you the best part was the elevator ride! 

The parking lot

For me, errands with kids became more of a challenge.  I have to plan out all the details of what to bring depending on how long we will be out and when we leave, no one wants hungry, melt-down kids!  I also realize, I have a method to parking.

Today I went to the food store, like I've done a billion times, and I have an interesting habit.  I park in or near the same spot every time.

Before I had kids, I didn't care where I parked.  When I wanted more exercise, I'd park far and walk.  If it was cold or rainy, I'd find the closest spot.  Now I love to be close to the shopping cart return.  The other thing I look for, an isle that isn't the busy one closest to the main entrance.

I pick the isle that is a bit farther away then the popular ones near the entry ways because everything with kids takes longer, especially when we're talking about loading and unloading kids and groceries.  Then we have to safely put our children in the car seat which takes a few minutes.  I'm not a fan of the person with the blinker light who taps their steering wheel waiting for the "good spot close to the store" while I load groceries and kids.  Parking far allows me to take my time with my kids and enjoy the experience.  (Which, depending on the day and their moods is a whole other entry!)

The cart return - why park here?  I can easily grab a shopping cart without leaving my kids in the car or walking away from them.  After shopping, I load everyone and everything in and can just put the shopping cart right in the return.

In non-shopping cart parking lots I typically park a bit farther by the store.  It's just easier for me to have the space to be able to unload the kids without worrying about the person zipping into the next space or waiting to get in or out of their car while I load the kids.

Have you thought about the habits you have because you have kids?