Too smart

for his own good.

Yesterday, Sunday, my family had it's big Christmas. It's an annual event, and given that most of us live in town there are usually near or over 50 people that attend. We all bring a dish to share, play some games, and Santa makes an appearance to hand out gifts to the kids. This has been going on for quite some time, originally starting at my Great-Grandmother's home, where she sat everyone down in her very small living room and dining room, and then it moved to her basement as the family grew. Eventually, after she passed away, it was traded around to different family member's homes, until it got so large that no one could host it anymore. Now we rent the hall of our family church, where there is much more room, and no one has to worry about readying their house for such an event.

Yesterday, Ché was super excited to go to the party. He really likes to play with his cousins and was eager to see Santa. (We haven't ventured to the mall yet.) So, he ate a pretty good lunch, and then we sat and waited for Santa, singing carols. Santa used to be played by someone in the family, but the older kids could always figure it out, and would blurt out who it was, thoroughly confusing the little ones that for the most part really thought that Santa was coming to their party. So in recent years whomever is hosting has to find a Santa outside of the family. This year, it was a lady. We all knew it before she came, but thought nothing of it. Ché was so excited when she walked in the door, that he ran off of my lap to give "Santa" a big leg hug. He came and sat back down. Santa passed out presents, did his/her thing, and then was gone.

The rest of the afternoon was fine, Ché played bingo, ate more cookies, and then it was time to go. On the way home however Ché says out of the blue, "Santa was a lady." Before I had time to respond, he continued by saying, "I think it was his Mama, helping him out." So we agreed, saying that Santa is busy this time of year, and that he has to have helpers since he can't do everything himself, and that Ché was probably right, his Mama was helping him out. Because after all, what mother wouldn't help their son?