Of Course Santa's Real...duh, He's Online...

We’re all busy. We all have gifts to buy and wrap, cards to mail, parties to host. On top of all that, we have the children to think of. Sometimes, Mommy just needs a break. 20 minutes to sit and enjoy a hot cup of coffee (or tea…or brandy…whatever - I don’t judge). Here are a few Christmas themed techie ways to entertain the little loves. Q has tried some of them and loves them. Plus, it’s educational…’cuz they’re on the computer and everything, and I’m all about educating our children…especially if it means I get 10 minutes more to myself. But seriously, it’s almost 2011…computers are everywhere. It’s important that our kids learn how to use them early.

My dad sent Q an e-mail message from Santa. This is probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Santa starts by welcoming your child, by name and then shows them around North Pole HQ. He throws in a reference to the beloved air hockey table (geez, now we’re totally screwed if *Santa* doesn’t deliver) and tells Q he needs to work extra hard at his reading!! Score! Q literally ran to bed tonight to read his story, and he did a pretty fine job, if I do say so. He got 100% on his spelling test today, too. Woot woot! I totally wish I could loom the Santa threat over him 365 days a year, because the tooth fairy doesn’t have the same pull. My dad sent it from http://www.portablenorthpole.ca/ although I’ve found that http://www.magicsanta.ca/ does the same thing. Best of all…free!!! Well, that and we had some bonding time while watching it together.

One of my *former* employees and a *current* friend sent us an Advent Calendar that you download to your computer. Every day, you click on the new day, and a beautiful Christmas scene pops up. Maybe you’ve heard of Jacquie Lawson’s artwork? I don’t know, but check it out at http://www.jacquielawson.com/. The icon for the calendar is this beautiful snow globe. The cost is minimal, and you can still send it (or download it yourself) now, because it’s retroactive. Q looks forward to each day’s new scene.

Have you ever elf’d yourself? I know, it sounds a) painful or b) dirty, but fortunately (or unfortunately) it’s neither. My brother sent this to us last year – he photoshopped my head, my mom’s head, Q’s head and his on these elves doing a Christmas Hoe-down. We laughed so hard, we cried. You can do a free version, or pay a bit and get the deluxe videos. It’s all here, folks at… http://www.elfyourself.com/.

On Christmas Eve, Q and I go to http://www.noradsanta.org/ and track Santa’s sleigh. It’s super exciting for Q to see where *Santa* is and how soon until he’ll be at our home. Last year, when he saw Santa was an hour away, he went to bed so that he wouldn’t be awake when he arrived. I’ve never seen him jump in bed so fast. You can click on different cities around the world and see *actual* footage of Santa delivering presents to all the good girls and boys.  If you go there now, you’ll find a count down already and your child can take a look at Santa’s village.

I bet my parents are wishing they had this stuff when I was a kid. Then my dad wouldn’t have had to climb on the roof and jump around pretending to be the reindeer, and my mom wouldn’t have had to eat 15 cookies and two glasses of milk (Santa’s a big guy…) Nah, to be honest with ya, I can’t ever remember believing in Santa. I remember pretending to believe, so the presents were still waiting for me under the tree…

Now, go enjoy your coffee while it’s still hot. The kids are good for at least another 15 minutes.

You’re welcome.

Again…