Fist Bumps for Santa

Drake is at the age when Santa is a bit scary. He enjoys the idea of Santa and stuffed ones, pictures of Santa, and statues are good in his eyes. He will say Ho Ho (he forgets the third Ho) all day long but get the real guy in a room and Drake wants nothing to do with him.

We met Santa while we were at Epcot over Thanksgiving. When we walked up to him, Drake started to whimper. This past Saturday morning, the Clemson Recreation Department hosted a breakfast with Santa. As soon as Santa walked into the cafeteria, Drake started to softly scream. During the breakfast, I asked Drake if he wanted to meet Santa; "No". We walked over to the stage so Drake could watch the other kids talking to Santa but he still did not want to have anything to do with with the man.

Finally we waited our turn and got on the stage to meet Santa. I knew that it would not work, but I thought we should at least try. The whole time waiting, Drake was saying "No, No" while waving his hand. As we approached Santa, the whimpering began as we got within five feet of him. Sitting on his lap was going to be a no go, but Drake was willing to give him fist bumps and high fives (he does not give one without the other). Thursday we will have one more attempt with Santa, but it looks as if the fist bump is closest form of affection we will have this year.