Small Victories with Bribes

Hello all,

Okay, first a little back story. We have made 3 trips to the mall to get Mae-Lei acquainted with Santa. Plus one time with my aunt where she totally freaked out and clung to my aunt for dear life. Well, today we took Mae-Lei on the grand hopes of finally getting a picture with Santa, sans mommy. Last years picture had Mommy, Mae-Lei AND Santa. So, off we head to the mall in the hopes of a picture with the Jolly Elf. We get there and there is a heck of a line, so I get in line and let my mom take Mae-Lei for a walk around the area where Santa is situated so she doesn't get bored. Well, as we get closer to picture time, Mae-Lei and my mom come inside the barrier with me and we wait patiently and we hear a set of parents in front of us bribing their kids to sit with santa. Practically begging. Not only do my mom and I hear this, so does Mae-Lei. She looks up and me and says "mommy, I want cookies and ice cream." So, I tell her if she sits with Santa and gets her picture taken I will get her a pooh cookie and she will get ice cream after dinner tonight. That was it...she was skipping everybody ahead of her, she was on her way to Santa, we actually had to hold her off. When she got there, she got up and told Santa she wanted 3 presents for Christmas and a pony. So, here are the pictures. Enjoy.