Once again the holiday season is over. The house looks bare. Each room lacking the reds and greens that adorned the walls, mantle, shelves, archways and staircases. The balsam fir from the family room is now lying on its side by the roadway waiting to be taken away and discarded with others to be ground up and returned to the soil. It's ornaments reluctantly removed, now neatly arrayed in boxes and stored out of sight until the chill of winter returns. We are back in the time after. A bit melancholy, but enriched, hopeful and with indelible memories of what we are so fortunate to have. Which leads me to the wondrous and fascinating minds of children particularly at this time of year. One such occasion in particular comes to mind.
Slime (aka Batman, aka Ball Boy) is now just over 4 3/4. He will make sure you know that he is no longer 4 1/2. And Slime? Well, that is a story for another time and place.
Slime and I were having lunch at our grandsons' favorite burger place right before Christmas. He and his brother, Hank, (aka Superman, now 7, also another story) love their cheese curds and probably have them once a week. Isn't it fun being a grandparent! Anyway, Slime and I (Hank was still in school) were ordering our cheese curds and grilled cheese when what to our wondering eyes should appear....Santa stood behind the counter distributing food orders. Hmmmm....very interesting. Slime never took his eyes off Santa. We found a table and were waiting for our food. Santa walked by, stopped, and asked Slime if he was a good boy this year. He nodded with a great deal of confidence. He then looked at me and said, "I won't even ask you..." (wink, wink). I smiled and he strolled off to visit another table of hungry kids.
After we got our food, Santa re-appeared, across the room carrying a tray of burgers, fries and shakes. Slime noticed and said perfectly serious, "Papa, Santa looks like a chef".
Of course, Santa at a fast food restaurant would look like a chef. I could not disagree with Slime. Not only does he still believe in Santa but he also seems to believe that Santa is perfectly capable of taking on other responsibilities when he is not in the toy shop or delivering presents. Does he think the man behind the beard at the mall sells splat balls in one of the kiosks when he is not sitting in his "North Pole" chair? Is the guy in the red suit in front of the grocery store bagging groceries when his shift is up? And then there are all the others "dressed up" like Santa - parents, grandparents, aunt, uncles, friends and those wanting to share their blessings with those less fortunate. Turns out Santa ends up being very good at multi-tasking.
And, in keeping with the season Slime gave me one of his cheese curds..... one!
It was delicious.
