Santa at Kitty Hawk Kites November 23, 2018

Just back from spending 4 great hours at Kitty Hawk kites dressed in the big red suit. We had more children than I've ever had there. We had a line of 4 to 6+ families starting at 10 that was there until 12:30 and after that there was steady traffic with never a time longer than 2 minutes without someone who wanted to see Santa. Did a couple of pictures with dogs today, which always fun for me! Of course one of the challenges when you have a line is to keep from rushing the child you are with because others are waiting. My philosophy, and I apologize if I have said this before, but it is worth repeating. I feel when I have a child before me, it is my mission to let them know they are the most important person in the world to me, because they are! And you don't rush that! So I didn't and it all worked out. The weather was cool this afternoon, I wore an extra layer underneath for the first time in North Carolina. Usually I'm battling 70 degree temps and I probably will again before Christmas.

The day started off with a number of refusals, they seem to run in clusters as one child sees the one ahead in line fussing then they will do the same. Once again Legos were one of the most requested items, closely followed by Barbie's today anyway. I have made it a practice to ask which Barbie they want and how many they have. That way the parents get a little more info on the situation. When I asked one little girl how many Barbies she had, she told me that she had 100! We joked that after she got the one this one she could paint black spots on them and have Dalmatians. There were also requests for the generic Baby Doll and LOL dolls were popular today also. Had a few requests for American Girl Dolls and one little one asked for an American BOY Doll!

There were some requests for animals, alive and stuffed, like dogs and cats and one each bird, and a Horse! By far the most unusual request was a girl that asked for a FROG! I loved the look on Mom and Dad's faces on that one!

Computers, laptops, tablets and phones were very popular also. One little guy wanted an iPhone X and an iPhone 5. I asked if he was going to put a phone to each ear. As usual, I explained that Mom and Dad had to OK any phone requests, since they end up paying for it.

Slime was also a request of several youngsters, rainbow and purple and other colors! Because I had read something about there being dangerous stuff to ingest in slime and did tell the first one to ask for it, that she had to be sure not to eat it. I got such a look from her and she said "Silly, Slime is not for eating!" So I didn't add that warning again!

Then there were the requests for hoverboards, scooters, skateboards, surfboards under various names, longboard, Pennyboard, etc. With skateboards I always mention the need for a helmet also!

Under the unusual category, I was asked, for the first time ever, I think, what I wanted for Christmas. I explained after a long Christmas Eve all I wanted on Christmas was a nice cup of hot chocolate and a place to put my feet up!

Santa had several requests for Transformers, especially BumbleBee! One young man asked for a trailer for his Gator and after a moments thought he said he needed a hitch also! Another fellow asked for rock climbing shoes, and a little girl asked for a "real" guitar. Two brothers asked for a guitar and a drum set and I told Dad I would bring him plenty of ear plugs! An usually specific request was a little guy who wants "a skeleton that has a removable pumpkin head and also has a magic bow and arrow"

But I also had a first, a young lady asked me for something that I had never had requested! She wanted . . wait for it . . . a TYPEWRITER!

And that's the latest from Santa's lap!

PS: I don't know how but I forgot that today I had two separate people ask for world peace, one about 9, the other about 40 years old. A sign of the times, I guess!