Introducing our 4 year old - fun and fearless

And here is how the story goes. It was a normal Tuesday afternoon in Gilbert, Arizona. Our youngest daughter Reegan was taking her nap and I mentioned to Riley maybe we would go see Santa if she wanted. She wanted. I was thinking to myself, don't make a big deal about this and no one gets disappointed. I let Riley pick out her own outfit and didn't worry about it matching or being Christmas like. I did not bother doing her hair b/c there was no time for that kind of activity with two children on our way to see Santa. I thought maybe going on a weekday this early (it was November 30th) would be the best...less line, less crowd...no guilt in wasting anyone's time. Plus we needed to look for a jacket & hat & gloves for Riley. So we went. There was no one in line and Riley said she just wanted to see him. So we stood back and saw him and the "elves" asked her if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap. Big fat NO. I took Reegan out of her stroller and my usual fearless toddler adhered herself to me like a DORA Bandaid. She had no interest in even stepping one foot near this guy. In fact, she started trying to climb back into the stroller. So we moved on, casually without concern.

We found Riley a jacket, cool winter hat and gloves (all necessary for a trip up north later this month). Then we went for the promised hot pretzel. And then to round out our adventure the mall play zone. It was nice b/c there was hardly anyone there (we usually only go on the weekends when it is a total zoo).

The girls ran around for all of 5 minutes when Riley announced she wanted to go back and see Santa. I looked over and Santa plus the 3 elves plus the cameraman were standing around with nothing to do. I asked Riley several times if she was sure. She confirmed she was indeed sure. So we went. And then my daughter who is at times painfully shy and anxious, walked right next to Santa, put her hands on her hip, jutted her butt out and gave the camera a huge smile. SHE. STRUCK. A. POSE. Like the most confident of children. But the people behind the camera are not professionals and they did not take the shot. Instead, they probably thought I would want to make sure she sat on Santa's lap and that her sister got in the picture. Oh if only they knew, having that picture of her in all her glory would have been worth all the pennies in the world. Nonetheless, someone grabbed Riley (they remembered her from earlier, checking Santa out) and put her on Santa's lap. She was a little shaken by this sudden rushing around and everyone getting so excited, but she brought out the smile. And Reegan walked right over to get her big sister's hand...related confidence.

The girl behind the cash register started telling me about their packages and their deals. I didn't even care what the pictures looked like...or the cost. Sign me up for the USB port...give those pictures. To print, to send out, to save and cherish. This big event where she came to it all on her own. Like she does everything. If I just stand back and let her.

And we celebrated. We gave high fives and went in the toy store (to touch and see the toys but not buy...b/c we need to send Santa a letter first) and then saw the puppies and then we cheered some more. And we told Daddy and Jaclyn and anyone who would listen about what our 4 year old did.

It would have been totally ok if Riley didn't ask to go back to see Santa. We had a great afternoon even without that. And the picture and sitting on Santa's lap were almost irrelevant. It was that she felt ok to do it that meant so much to me, as her mom, her biggest fan.