This year as she continued to expand her vocabulary and learn new things about the world she realized we didn’t have a proper chimney. How would Santa come deliver the Christmas gifts if there wasn’t a chimney? We live in a modern style home, with electric heating; we don’t really need a chimney. But of course, since she wanted it, her uncles would get it for her. So while I planned my Christmas shopping and organized my gifts for Christmas, my cousins began building an outdoor chimney beside my house. My daughter would sit outside and watch her uncles build. She told them it had to be made of red brick and the cement had to be white.
I tried to talk them out of it but they were convinced this was the ultimate in unique Christmas gifts for a child. I have learned never to argue with a self proclaimed contractor. When the chimney was finally ready my daughter announced that Santa had cavities. Since he had to go to houses all over the world in one night, he didn’t time to brush his teeth after eating the milk and cookies. I tried suggesting we leave a granola bar and soda but no, Santa would catch a cold. On top of all my Christmas shopping, I now had to find a healthy gift for Santa aka my fat cousin who would play the part on Christmas Eve.
I suggested more health food, but my daughter wouldn’t let Santa eat something that she didn’t like. She personally taste tested everything. We couldn’t agree on anything until one day she walked in on my online Christmas shopping and saw me looking for some nice Christmas gift baskets. She declared that fruit for Christmas would be perfect for Santa and also added she needed to taste it herself to make sure. I searched around and found some nice fruit baskets for Christmas with the fruit arranged like a floral bouquet. I ordered one for Santa, my daughter and then ten more for people at work. It looked wonderful and would easily pass as a very heartfelt Christmas gift. It was a real break for my long Christmas shopping list.