When Santa came to town

It was a cold chilly morning when PC man and I decided to be good dutiful parents by taking Ina to the annual Santa Claus parade. So with great enthusiasm we roused ourselves out of the warm beds and duly packed up everything we needed (surprisingly on time) and proceeded to accomplish the mission of the day being getting a shrieking kicking little bundle into her snow suit. Snow suit no longer appeals to Ina's aesthetic senses and she screams murder at the fashion faux pas we commit by getting her into the nasty looking red suit. I picked my brand new red pea coat and paraded around the house feeling liberated at hiding all those extra rolls securely and breathing easy after months of walking around sucking my stomach in. She casted a look of disdain a la Tyra Bank style almost declaring me out of the competition of America's next top model (indulge a poor mom her fantasies,will ya?). So in spite of the rejection I did put my best smile around and took a bow gracefully while tripping over my heels trying to hide the hurt. PC man meanwhile sweetly made us both breakfast knowing that given to both the ladies of the house he wouldn't get any. We gobbled down his waffles and juice and hauled our stuffed selves onto the car to get ready for the day. Being not quite suicidal as to drive all the way to downtown we did manage to find a parking spot at the nearby subway station and took the subway downtown. With me crying for my Starbucks and Ina fighting to keep her lovely head uncovered and a poor PC man catering all our high maintenance needs we did manage to make it to the downtown in time for the parade all loaded with hot chocolate from Starbucks,thermal blankets and lawn chairs. Then began the hunt for the good place. Thankfully we had our well connected croons in place who had managed to save a good place for us late comers.

It was cold and all the kids around bundled up in their snow suits and excited faces were just waiting for it all to begin. We exchanged a look of mutual understanding communicating that universal parent language with the other poor souls who had managed to get here early just so their little terrors could have a great day out. All of us with our big overfilled diaper bags,watching over the little ones praying they won't embarrass us by throwing their infamous tantrums in public we all made such a pretty picture. Ina also made a friend from whom however she soon wrangled out his reindeer hat making the little boy cry and making me want to disapparate from the place. Soon enough we were all involved in a massive negotiation peace process with two red faced kids showing their vocal prowess on full display. We had to give in and finally buy a similar wretched hat just so peace prevailed. Just when we had accomplished that she began hankering for "oolly tot,mama oolly tot" as she eyed another kid licking his massive sized candy to glory. To safeguard the interest of that other kid I managed to whip out another smaller one which thankfully I had a presence of mind to pack and offered her. She smiled happily and settled into sucking on it directing all her aggression towards it and we all heaved a sigh of relief and prayed for this parade to begin faster.

It did and soon enough as the wonderful floats came by Ina's eyes lit up. She excitedly lunged over as the bunnies hopped by and even managed to squeeze a hug from a clown while being scared by a few of them. She screamed in delight as the ginger bread house made its way through the street and clapped her hands cheering Mickey and Minnie in their red car. The princesses floated by along with the elves soon enough to add to her excitement while the bands kept her hooked onto the colorful display. The grand finale with the Big fat man on his sleigh had all the kids chanting Santa santa and waving their little hands in air. It was fun,it was grand and it was magical. For a moment it helped to forget all the traffic jams,driving nightmares,parking space hunts and the cold damp weather and making the whole outing memorable.

As we drove back while PC man took up some serious back seat driving and getting on my nerves(which deserves a whole new post in itself along with why sane men should never make the mistake of voicing their prejudices against women drivers especially when they are in a car driven by one) the exhausted Ina slept peacefully in the car.
We did make it all in one piece with preserved sanity and refreshed minds. By the way Santa,welcome to the town !It's great to have you while we indulge with some seriously annoying commercialized spirit along with the fun festivities.