For weeks, Little Guy, age 3, has been greeting us each morning with a query: “Is it Christmas?” then bursting into a medley of seasonally appropriate tunes. Which is adorable, and also hilarious. He hasn’t quite grasped the concept that we don’t celebrate the holiday, per se. Chinese food? A movie? Skiing and gathering with friends? Sure. But we’re Jewish, so Santa’s not coming down our (admittedly too-narrow) chimney.

Still, Little Guy’s been persistent in his desire to meet the Bearded Wonder. So, imagine his delight when he learned that Santa himself would make an appearance at Deer Valley Resort on the 24^th. We planned the entire ski day around the intel that St. Nick would turn up at Snow Park Lodge about 1:30. And, yes, that was my crabby voice you heard resonating across the dining room at Snow Park restaurant at 1:00, after Little Guy acted the part of petulant, exhausted three-year-old and kicked a friendly member of the Deer Valley marketing department. Sigh. 

And those were his shrieks you heard ringing through the plaza after we traded his skis for a claim tag at ski check. Still, we hung around, hoping to boost his spirits with a Santa sighting. Better yet: we ran into friends (the aforementioned Lisa and Dave; other pals in from Palm Beach, etc) and chatted for a bit before Ski Dad determined we’d missed our moment and headed for the parking lot. 

Suddenly, Big Guy shouted: “Look! Santa’s on Success” and I speed dialed Ski Dad to return with his camera. Big Guy accepted Santa’s handshake (and a candy cane) with a grin. Little Guy did as Little Guy does and played shy.

Santa, for his part, lived up to the hype. I’m telling you: the man knows things. For as we lined up for a photo op, Santa offered a robust “Shabbat Shalom!” After all, this year the 24^th fell on a Friday.