Santa Chronicles 2009

The gig is up.

I think she has known who Santa Claus really is for years, but became more lax about putting up a pretense as she became older.  Last year, we spent Christmas in a hotel room and she hung her stocking up on the television--the electronic hearth.  When she went through her loot in the morning, she said it was like Santa had been following her around the past few days and bought her everything she admired (including Belle).

A few months ago, she let it slip for real.  She used Santa and Dada interchangeably while we were sewing together one afternoon.  Then she realized what she had done.  She commanded, "Don't tell dada!"

Tonight, we went through the ritual of hanging up her stocking on the fireplace mantel.  I asked her if she's been good or bad. 

"Good enough.", she replied quickly.

I am not so sure about that.  I am still trying to locate a adoptive family for her.

Bad Dad, the old softy, has already filled the stocking with presents. 

In case you missed it, I've tagged the full Santa Chronicles series.

I've also figured out the discrepancy between my answer and NORAD's.  I don't see Santa Claus' workshop because his workshop is exactly at the North Pole.  I work with sun-synchronous weather satellites that do not go over the North Pole.  (They have a slight inclination of ~8  degrees offset from the poles.)  Thus, I have a data gap at the North Pole.  No wonder I have never seen his workshop.

The folks at NORAD are privy to imagery from more satellites.  If they say that they saw Santa's workshop, I am sure they did.  They've even captured Santa on film!

Visit NORAD Santa.

Merry Christmas