The first day of 12

Hi friends,


Well today was my first day of working a 12-hour shift. I am one pooped out Santa. My Big Chair is so hard it hurts my rump to be on it for so long. So the Talent has a tender tush!



Last year we did 480 pictures, but this year we did 621 photos (with over 1000 kids sitting on my lap). That averages out to be 56.6 kids per hour! SO we had an increase of 141 pictures and are ahead by 267 pictures to date from last year. Not bad at all, if I do say so myself.


When I arrived in Santa's Wonderland the line was so long I could not see the end. I was concerned about the amount of time I would be able to spend with each kid. But with that many, you just go. We tried the "Bass Passes" and they failed totally. People are trained to wait for Santa even if it takes an hour or more.


Needless to say, it was a very steady stream of kids and their parents the whole time. The kids were asking for Barbies, Nintendo DSi, Star Wars Lego's, and just plain baby dolls. I still got hit with the kids that wanted Laptops, XBox 360, and other high ticket items like that. So I usually try to talk them down, but that does not always work.


I will have more pictures tomorrow if Tasha behaves herself. I would think a 26 year old with 8 kids and one in the oven would be ...... well you fill in the blank. I have to admit, between her and Court I can not get away with anything. I will go into more details another day.


We had some wonderful kids, and some kids with such a mouth that I don't know how they eat with that thing. But we are all professionals and we do our jobs to the best of Santa's ability.


One last thing, the Mall Santa started today from 4-6pm and he's already crabby. He yells at the kids, shoves them around, and is just plain mean. I was personally told about this by two people. One person showed me the pictures she received from the Mall Santa and I "smoked him." You can tell that he is mad in the photo, he has a lighter red suit, and SPATS on instead of boots. Not to mention a not so real beard. He charges 10 bucks to sit in his lap, and 15 bucks for two 3x4 photos. Wow, what a great santa.


Well I need to get up soon so I better head off to bed. Remember be kind to the "Talent," or he just might send you to the Mall Santa.


Night,



Santa