Nasty Santa, Nasty Santa!

This morning I took Allyson to toddlers' story hour at the library. Every Wednesday, we listen to stories, sing songs, and make crafts with the other kids. Afterward, we turn in the previous week's books and choose five (or six, or seven) more. And Allyson grabs a video at random from the children's section.

This morning, we got to sing Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer while the kids joyfully shook their little sleigh bells. (Normally they shake the bells to a quirky song about brushing your teeth at a quarter to five in the morning.)

We listened to a cute story about Santa Mouse, and then we sang an old Christmas song that was unfamiliar to most of the kids (and maybe the moms as well). It goes like this:

Who's got a beard that's long and white?
Santa's got a beard that's long and white.
Who comes around on a special night?
Santa comes along on a special night.
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus.

There are several cute verses about boots and a suit of red and a big red cherry nose, and each concludes with a jubilant chorus of "Must be Santa, must be Santa..."

I wasn't sure whether Allyson liked the song until a couple of hours later, when she burst into song while we were putting away groceries.

"Nasty Santa! Nasty Santa! Nasty Santa, Santa Claus!" she sang.

I swallowed my laughter and said, "Sweetie, it's 'Must be Santa, Must be Santa!'" I sang the correct chorus for her.

"It is NOT musty Santa!" she replied indignantly. Then she went on singing, "Nasty Santa! Nasty Santa!" She was having so much fun that I couldn't argue with her.

I thought back to the week before when we'd gone to the library one evening to sit on Santa's lap. Based on her grumpy expression, maybe "Nasty Santa" is an accurate description of her views on Santa. No matter how he tried, he couldn't get a smile out of her.

Still, she did manage to tell Santa that she wants him to bring her a Princess Barbie this year. Maybe when she unwraps that gift, she'll stop singing about Nasty Santa.