The Nanny Diaries: Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Yesterday morning we met up with the Forde's good friends the Hallihans to see Santa Claus (or 'Santy' as everyone here calls him). We had an appointment to see him at a hotel called Maryborough. It was a very, very nice hotel. I would put it on about the same level as the Williamsburg Lodge. Ronan Hallihan is Eoghan's age and they call one another their best friend- which I think is sweet considering they are only three! Anyway, I was anxious to see how the three kids (Ronan, Eoghan, and Katie) responded to Santa Claus. The set-up of this visit was really nice. They have a petting zoo with reindeer open to the kids (unfortunately it was too wet yesterday to visit) and a grand entrance leading into Santa's little den. You have to walk through several black curtains to find him checking his naughty and nice list.

All three kids were great to sit on his lap. Katie was the most content- pulling Santa's beard and everything! Some differences I have noticed between here and home is that kids get presents when they visit Santa (which I don't EVER remember getting). And people also tend to ask, "What are you getting from Santa?" as opposed to "What are you asking for from Santa?" Its a small difference, but just something I noticed..

Today I went Christmas shopping with Maren and Franziska (two other au pairs) in Cork city. It was actually a very successful day. We had one scare when Franziska left one of her shopping bags in one of the busiest, most popular stores in the city. We went back to get it but could not find it anywhere and Customer Service had not seen it. We left distraught, thinking someone had picked it up and taken everything in it. Luckily about two hours later, Franziska got a phone call from Penney's saying that her bag had been turned in! It was really uplifting to know someone would turn it in to Customer Service.