One Small Step...

Ella went to sit on Santa's lap at the mall yesterday. (Side note: she LOVES Santa...loves sitting on his lap, loves telling him that she wants a dollhouse and slippers, and even loves playing Santa at home, which involves me sitting on her lap telling her what I want.)

Anyway, she sat with him and chatted for a minute, and then he reached into his sack beside the chair and pulled out a candy cane. Eeek! Not a big deal for other kids, but I have no idea what's in those candy canes or whether some peanutty snack was made in the same factory. Needless to say, I was a little concerned, but I decided that it might be inappropriate for me to sprint over to Santa and smack the candy cane out of his hand. So I decided we'd just throw it out later and scrub her hands.

Then something amazing happened. Santa put the candy back in the bag and gave her a colouring book instead. Hmmm...

Ella jumped off his lap and ran over to us to show us her new colouring book, so of course I asked her about the candy cane. "Did Santa ask you if you wanted a candy cane?" "Yes," she replied. "What did you say?" I asked. And to my great surprise and delight, Ella answered, "I said no."

This may not seem like a big deal, but for an almost-3-year-old to say no to candy is AMAZING. I can only hope that all those times that I tell her that she can't have candy (or anything) without asking me first have started to sink in.

And don't worry, I've ordered some peanut-free candy for Christmas!