Southern Maryland – Vanishing Santa!

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At dinner with my parents a month ago, Mom asked if I could print a Kohls coupon for her.  I assured her I would, and thought nothing more of it.  As we continued talking, Mom started nudging Dad and giggling.  I could tell Dad did not want to acknowledge what was unspoken between them.  Of course, that piqued my curiosity prompting me to ask:

“Mom, why are you laughing?”

Mom laughed harder, but revealed nothing.  She looked at Dad and asked if he wanted to tell me why they needed the coupon that night.

“Oh…you need it tonight?”  I asked, noting it was already almost 8PM. 

I could tell Dad was squirming for a gracious and rational way to explain the situation.  He asked me:

“What does Mom love to collect?” 

That was easy:  “Dolls!”

Then, he asked what kind of doll do we have too much of in the house? 

Oh no!  I rolled my eyes and exclaimed:  “Another Santa Claus???”

As it is, my parent’s home is filled with Santas.  They are everywhere and displayed all year round!  Dad responded, “This Santa is different…”

Dad’s response caught me off guard because normally those exact words would be spoken by Mom when she’s rationalizing another Santa purchase.  I asked him, “Are you listening to yourself?  You sound just like Mom!”  Absence of denial, Mom and Dad busted out laughing.

Dad explained he found the cookie jar Santa in the clearance section at Kohls, but Mom did not want to purchase it without her coupon.  She also did not want to admit her enthusiasm for this particular Santa did not match Dad’s.  😉  So, they left the Santa in the clearance section. 

Later, Dad returned to pick Mom up.  He stopped at the clearance section to see his Santa, but Santa had vanished!  Instead, a woman was raving about the incredible prices as she filled her cart with items.   Dad feared she had taken his Santa and walked away, head down, absolutely dejected. 

It wasn’t until they were in the car, that the vanishing Santa story unraveled.  Dad could not believe someone had purchased HIS Santa!  Mom asked, “Is it really gone?”  Dad responded, “Yes, it’s not there anymore.”

Mom responded:  “That’s strange because I think I hid it…”

Confused, Dad asked, “What do you mean, ‘you think you hid it’?”

No response, so Dad asked again, “Did you or didn’t you hide it?”

Mom admitted she did hide the Santa, but was confused thinking someone had found her hiding spot.  Perhaps hope was still alive! 

I printed the coupon and they headed back to rescue Dad’s Santa only to find it was truly gone!  Dad searched feverishly to no avail.  He even approached three different clerks inquiring about the lost Santa, but the majority of them looked at him clueless.

To this day, Dad is haunted with regret he did not buy the Santa and regularly seeks this Santa online!

I was curious about what this Santa looked like, so Mom pulled him up on the internet.  An unsmiling Santa stared back at me.  I jokingly said, “This Santa looks kinda like Dad because he’s not smiling!”  Mom thought the exact same thing. 

We shared this with Dad and he laughed at the revelation.  He said, “Yes, daughter, this Santa looks like me:  fat and unsmiling.” LOL! 

What do you think?  😉        

Have a wonderful week.  🙂

Lizzy’s Latest for this week is the Cameron Silver for Nine West Painted Heart Boots.  My review of these boots will post on Wednesday of next week.  For now enjoy the pictures!  🙂