Tag Archives: santa

Countdown to Christmas: Santa’s Secret Hiding Places

Where do you hide your holiday purchases so your littlest snoopers can’t ruin their surprises? Fortunately, my child is young (and innocent) enough that present peeking is not an issue I have to deal with… yet. However, that is not the case with my friend, who parents three sons ages 7, 9, and 12. Apparently, her enthusiastic cherubs don’t quite appreciate the element of surprise. In fact, their mother tells me that she has run out of hiding places in her home to stow her kids’ Christmas gifts because her mini Sherlock Holmes’ have made it a holiday tradition to … Continue reading →

Cool Places to Visit Santa

If you have children, then you likely have plans to visit Santa Claus in the next few weeks. Some of you will head to the mall to meet up with Jolly Ol’ St. Nick while others of you might catch the rotund elf in a Christmas parade. For those of you looking to make this year’s visit with Santa extra special for your little ones consider the following holiday events: The Polar Express (Grand Canyon Railway) If you’re near Williams, Arizona this month then you don’t want to miss the chance to ride the rails with Santa. The Grand Canyon … Continue reading →

Parental Rewind: Holiday Edition

Now that your Thanksgiving guests are gone and the holiday leftovers are slowly disappearing you can finally kick up your feet and relax for a bit. After all, it won’t be long before you’ll have to get up again to drag out the Christmas decorations, trim the tree, bake cookies, finish (or start) shopping for presents and get the house back in order for round two of holiday guests. But before you get caught up in the countdown to Christmas chaos consider taking a few minutes to see what you missed in the PARENTS blog this week: November 24th—–Desperate Dad … Continue reading →

Another Reason to Encourage Your Kids to WRITE a Letter to Santa

In a previous blog I vented… rather, shared my feelings regarding the influx of websites encouraging kids to go high-tech and email their letters to Santa instead of writing them by hand and shipping them off via snail mail. Frankly, I find the whole Santa email idea a bit insulting. It’s a slap in the face of parents and teachers who work tirelessly to encourage children to practice their penmanship. Think about it; what better incentive to get your kindergartener to master spelling, printing and word order than actually putting pen (or pencil or crayon) to paper and jotting down … Continue reading →

My Daughter’s Very Merry Christmas Eve

Amidst all of the hoopla of Christmas Eve I failed to realize mail carriers were still hard at work yesterday. Frankly, I was shocked when I saw our mail lady drive up and fill our mailbox with a bunch of envelopes. My daughter was even more surprised and not because the mail lady actually showed up, but because of what she placed inside our mailbox. Three weeks ago my 3-year-old daughter wrote a letter to Santa. It was more drawing than writing, but since Santa knows the language of all children I figured he could make out what she was … Continue reading →

Dear Santa, May I Please Have Some Patience?

Dear Santa, I know this is a last minute request seeing how it’s Christmas Eve and all. I’m sure the elves already have your sleigh loaded and ready to make tonight’s rounds. But I was wondering if you could possibly spare room for one last thing? I’m not asking for a lot. Just a little Patience to get me through until I can refill my reserves on my own. A smidge stuffed in my stocking should do me. You see, I’ve tried very hard to be patient with my husband this year, but now I’m about all tapped out. First, … Continue reading →

Have Breakfast with Santa on Saturday!

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Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria, a Downtown Disney restaurant at Disneyland in California is hosting its very first Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 22, 2007. Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria is a member of the Patina Restaurant Group. The Patina Restaurant Group has a tradition of hosting breakfasts with Santa every year but this year will be the very first time for the Orange County restaurant. Breakfast with Santa at Naples will begin at 9:00am and end at 1:00pm. The cost will be $18 per child (under 12 years) and $35 per adult. The cost includes breakfast, a visit with Santa … Continue reading →

A Sweet Santa, A Sick Santa, and a Missing Santa Returns

Christmas came early for a few folks in Rutland, Vermont. A local newspaper there recently reported that they received a card sent to them by a mystery “elf” saying he intended to give away $600 to random residents during the holiday season. Sure enough, a few days ago a woman told reporters she was approached by a man she didn’t know as she exited a local Wal-Mart. According to the woman, the mystery man handed her an envelope which contained a Christmas card and $50 in cash. In the days since, the Mystery Santa has reportedly showed up at several … Continue reading →

Funny Apple Ad Features Santa

I just love those Apple ads that pit the PC guy against the Mac guy. They are so very entertaining in a way that doesn’t put the competitor down. I frequently go to Apple.com just to view the ads. They are just excellent. This latest ad is no exception. Posted on Apple’s homepage, it features the Mac guy, the PC guy and Santa Claus in animation, reminiscent of the classic Rankin-Bass holiday television features, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Year Without A Santa Claus (Remember freeze-miser?). In the ad, the Mac and the PC get together with … Continue reading →

Pushing Kids to Santa’s Lap

One of my daughters and I were out this weekend doing a little shopping at our nearby mall. Of course the place was abuzz with bodies and people and plenty of noise and the ching ching of cash registers. Since neither of us are big shoppers and she is less patient in a big crowd than I am, we didn’t last too long. But after feeling sorry for all the sad and sickly-looking puppies in the pet store, we wandered down to the main courtyard where the Santa operation was set-up. As we were watching the line of parents and … Continue reading →