Ho Ho Ho!

Today's adventure was clearly for my amusement since I am almost certain that neither one of my daughter's could care less about seeing Santa.  But, I am completely convinced that their memories from this age will be mostly from their pictures that I have neatly arranged in their photo albums, creating a story for them of their little lives.

They will see the pictures of them sitting on Santa's lap and they won't remember how I panicked when I realized that Reagan's new Christmas dress was about 3 inches too short.  Or the patience that it took to spend another 10 minutes putting a new dress on her limp and uncooperative body.  They won't remember how anxiously Mommy paced around while we waited in line (thankfully only for 15 minutes!), fearful that this will all blow up in her face.  They won't remember how I gritted my teeth as I felt the woman behind me try not to continuously glance at my 2 1/2 year old daughter who would randomly scream sounds that someone her age wouldn't typically make.  Or the way that my voice quivered when I tried to explain to Santa that my daughter has a neurological disorder called Rett Syndrome and she can't respond to his question about what she wants from Santa this year.  Or how kind he was to try to reassure me, telling me that his 10 year old grandson is autistic.  Nope, all they will remember is what they see from these pictures.  Two precious little girls dressed up to see Santa, and that's all that matters.

Although neither are smiling, I consider it a great victory that there was no crying or screaming!