Santa's Little Helper

Last Saturday at our church Christmas party I was asked to help our "special visitor" by whispering the children's names to him before they sat on his lap. No problem. Then I was informed that Santa required a song of introduction before he would starting talking to kids. Again, no problem, that would lend an air of festivity, and as long as I could just shoot from the hip and not have to choose a note for everyone, it would be great.


So, at the appointed time I grabbed the microphone to get things going, and it wasn't on. There was no switch on it or anything, so I thought of abandoning the song and just getting the kids going, but no dice - Santa required a song. So, I started singing Jingle Bells as loudly as possible while making large arm motions, but only a few in the crowd sang, mostly people who already knew what I was trying to do. The rest of the 200 people? Staring at me. Awkward moment. Luckily it was but a small moment because someone fixed the mic and I was able to announce what I was doing up there, namely, Santa would talk to no kids until he got his song. Immediately everyone launched into the loudest rendition of Jingle Bells ever, and it was festive, indeed.


I found the Santa's-name-whisperer job to be quite amusing, probably because he couldn't hear me very well due to the beard unless I got really close. I would whisper, "Sean," and he would say, "Oh, hi, John!" So I'd whisper a little closer next time. Fun times.

My children were among those that spoke with Ol' Saint Nic that night. Josh was a little reticent at first . . . But, the candy and promises of toys thawed him. Noah saw Santa for the first time! His Christmas list was huge . . .