Santa's not so secret

Alice (3 years old) and Jane (21 months old) have gone to the same fantastic daycare since they were infants. The daycare's owner teaches the pre-K class. Her parents live two houses down, and since they retired years ago, they often help out in the classrooms. They have become the surrogate grandparents to all of the kids, known to everyone as Nana & Pa.



During the holidays, some teachers take vacation, so Pa helps cover in different rooms during the busy dropoffs in the morning. He also plays the role of Santa each year at the Christmas parties - beard & all.

Since I work full-time, I'm never able to go to the Christmas daycare party. This year, no exception. But this morning, I finally heard from Jane's teacher about her laugh-out-loud moment at their class party last week.

Pa was making the rounds of each room in his Santa outfit, and all the kids were suitably wowed by "Santa" and greeting him with "Hey, Santa!" When he reached Jane's room, the teachers all said, "Hi, Santa! Look kids, it's Santa!" and some of the kids responded with squeals of "Santa!" The teacher told me Jane, with a big grin on her face then piped up, "Hey, Pa."

Shoot. That didn't last long.