here come santa claus

If you grew up celebrating Christmas in North America, chances are good that at some point when you were little you made your way to your local mall, wearing your Sunday best or an outfit scarily similar to your siblings, and stood in line so you could sit on Santa’s knee and smile for all of three seconds. It’s a holiday tradition that seems to satisfy parents looking for a festive photo and scare sweet babies into screaming at the top of their lungs. Watching moms and dads make silly faces, bribe their young ones and hope they’ll get a great family photo has always made me chuckle so discovering a whole website of funny, weird and scary Santa photos has weirdly enough brought a smile to my face this holiday season.
Personally, I’ve always liked Santa. A cheerful, jolly old man who is going to bring me presents and likes cookies? Really, what’s not to like? And I have to admit that I still wish he was real. It took me a long time to stop believing that good old Saint Nick wasn’t really flying around the world delivering presents to all the good little girls and boys because I really didn’t want to stop believing, I didn’t want it to be a lie. Believing in Santa was magical. Waking up one Christmas morning many years ago to find a Polaroid of the big guy in red sweetly watching over my sister and me as we slept was such a treat…and finding out that our neighbours had the same photo with the same Santa Clause caused so much excitement and only sealed the deal that he was certainly real. A few years after, I remember having a discussion with some friends, the great debate of Santa’s existence, and while most of us decided that it didn’t logically make sense, one friend, who wasn’t so well off, argued that there was no way her parents could afford all the presents she and her three siblings received each Christmas morning. Well, that was enough to convince me for at least another year that the Pere Noel really did exist.
This Christmas, I’m lucky enough to be celebrating with my two-year old and four-year old nephews who have been behaving extra well these last few months in the hopes that Santa and his reindeer will stop by and I cannot wait to see their faces come Christmas morning…Santa let me in on a little secret and I happen to know he’s bringing some pretty exciting gifts!

Did you believe in Santa? Do you want your children to?

to eat or not to eat

I can’t help but smile every time I watch this video. If you were placed in a room with a marshmallow (or a chocolate cake, or a margarita…whatever tickles your taste buds!) and promised that you would receive a second one if you didn’t give in to temptation, do you think you would wait? The reactions and restraint that these children display are priceless. While it seems like a cruel trick to tempt these tots with treats, it is too cute not to watch.


Temptation is a funny thing when it’s placed in front of you in the form of a treat. As much as I know I don’t need it, I have a hard time not wanting seconds when it comes to dessert. After getting over the cute factor and looking into the video with a little more logic, there are too many variables that wouldn’t have occurred to me at such a young age and it makes me question what choice I would now make. I’d like to ignore the fact that wanting two of something when you already have one is greedy but I can’t push that from my mind. And I don’t really think these children are being greedy – who wouldn’t want seconds as a child? But I now know better than to need more than what I’ve been fortunate enough to have received in the first place. And with an unfortunate understanding of sugar’s lack of nutrition, I think I would be more proud of myself if I only went for one tasty treat as opposed to toughing it out and treating my tummy to two. Politely declining the second helping no matter how bad I want it would now take more self control than staring that marshmallow in the face for several minutes in the hopes of its multiplication.

All logic aside, I love this test. I love the way these children take it so seriously, knowing what reward they will receive. I think I could be patient if performing this test at my current age, but twenty years ago? I wonder how long I would have suffered. At what point do you say, I’ve waited long enough and I’m eating that marshmallow? When does the torture of staring at a sweet become too much that the prospect of having two just doesn’t seem worth it anymore? I am more than impressed by the patience that these cuties demonstrate, and their clever ways of avoiding that appealing marshmallow, and I can only hope that my self restraint would have been just as good as theirs.

Would you give in? What temptations are too good to give up?

summer lovin'

How awesome was it to be a kid on a hot summer day and run through the sprinkler? I think it played out the same for most of us when we were wee. There was so much excitement surrounding the sprinkler, especially its first sighting of the season. And when the water finally did spray out like an elephant’s trunk, we all ran away, just far enough away and around the perimeter that only the tiniest of drops could touch us. We’d run up and stick our toes in the spray, giggling the whole time and then sprint away with mere seconds left before the long legs of water would rain down upon us. And, finally, some brave soul would decide it was time. I vividly remember the feeling of the water first hitting my skin anywhere above my ankles - up the legs and to the tummy and finally drenching my hair which would make me squeal with delight. And then the games began…hiding under it, hopping over it, sitting on it, chasing it…its amazing how entertaining a simple watering device can be.


photo via 13bees

Summer is my favorite season. With so many ways to breathe in fresh air in the summer time and with a cold glass of pink lemonade to keep you cool, it’s no wonder I am always counting down the days to the third season of the year.

Do you celebrate summer? What’s your favourite season?