Admiring from afar, But THIS is a little too close

Today was Ava's Christmas party at "school" (aka day care). It was cute to walk into the auditorium to see the kids (all ages) lined up, ready to sing songs at their teacher's direction. Ava gave me a big wave which showed me where she was sitting. We watched the older kids SHOUT Christmas songs, which was too cute. One little girl was especially loud, and seemed to lead the group as she knew the words. They sang "Deck the Halls", which was especially funny, when they couldn't remember the words to the end of the first verse.

We ate a nice meal of chicken fingers, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, biscuits and green beans. It was nice to talk to two other moms of girls in Ava's class.

Then came Santa. The other kids in Ava's class were a bit leary of Santa, sitting on his lap with a very questioning / perplexed look on their face. Then it was Ava's turn. I tried to prep her by being super-excited about Santa, and telling Ava she should give him a hug, etc. No can do. The minute she sat on his (or was it her? :-) lap, she freaked-out. The other parents that looked on got a big kick out of Ava shrieking while in Santa's lap. It was pretty funny. What was even funnier was each kid's reaction that followed Ava. I think she set the tone for her classmates. :-)