Long Overdue Update

Parade:
Shortcake was at Macy's at 6:30am, got into costume, and then went downstairs to sit on some metal benches behind the performance area. Yes, she literally acted as a seat-warmer. She was paid to sit on metal benches for an hour. While this seems silly from a managerial point of view, at least Shortcake viewed In The Heights, South Pacific, Little Mermaid, White Christmas and the cheerleaders practice their numbers for the TV cameras, which was kind of cool.

After sitting on metal benches, Shortcake was sent to 34th Street to entertain the crowds. This means that for 4-5 hours she literally ran up and down the street, jumped up and down, shouted, marched, danced, cheered, and did 2 cartwheels. She was given a bullhorn occasionally, which was cool, but most of the time she just talked to people, and tried to keep them occupied and distracted from the cold while waiting for the parade to hit 34th Street.

It turns out people will do the Hokey Pokey if an elf does it right in front of them. They will not the hand jive. They will sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." They will not sing "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" They do not know how old Santa is (as old as his tongue, a little bit older than his teeth).

Also, Jewish kids don't know their favorite Christmas movie, predictably enough. Nor do they know their favorite Hannukah movie. They do know their favorite Princess movie. Note to Shortcake: just because you are an elf at the parade does not mean everyone there celebrates Christmas. Oops.

Shortcake had an amazing view of the parade, since she was on the curb of 34tg & Broadway. Dora was huge with the kids, as was Kermit, Shrek, Spongebob and the Pikachu balloon. And do no underestimate the appeal of Miley Cyrus. A few balloons almost fell over on top of the crowds, which was exciting, as was being so close to the balloons to see how they were piloted.

About halfway through the Parade, Shortcake started going to the corner, looking to see what was coming, and then shouting it back to the waiting families: "Hey kids, there's Snoopy! Look!" Also, she played a game with a 4 year old that consisted of the kid throwing confetti at her, and then Shortcake laughing in response.

Shortcake started looking forward to the appearance of Santa, since that meant the parade was over, and she could stop running around entertaining kids - which, don't get her wrong, but entertaining kids is tiring. There were many false promises of Santa, but Shortcake persevered. By the end of the parade, Shortcake was doing a conga line dance with herself to the tune of "Santa, Santa, San-TA, Santa, Santa, San-TA."


And, the good news is, after the parade, as the families were leaving, Shortcake was told mutiple times, she was the best elf. She was great. So maybe Shortcake is meant to be an elf. Or maybe she just connects to children really well.

Elfing in the store:
The weekend was spent being a Santa elf, a photo elf, ushering, being in the maze, and crowd control at the front of the line.

Santa and Photo elfing is still scary because Shortcake feels she's not doing enough to really rock out the positions. She's still too tentative, perhaps?

Ushering is good, and Shortcake has the maze patter down. A sample:

"Step up, step forward. You can see Santa and Mrs. Claus right here in the snowglobe! If you watch closely he might laugh his big Jolly Santa laugh for you or wink at you. Most of the time he just watches to see who's been naughty and nice. I'm sure all of you are on the nice list because the naughty people are too ashamed to face Santa in person. Who knows Mrs. Claus' first name?" *pause for names* "I don't know her name. I think it's Sophie, but no one will tell me her name. It's the best-kept secret in the North Pole. I know; I've tried to find out. I've looked in all the best hiding places. Step up, step right up, folks. It's like being at the circus, only we have Santa instead of elephants, and Santa is better than elephants or clowns or magicians, but he's kinda like a magician since he's magic. Step forward please. We don't want to leave gaps in the line, or it will make Santa think no one wants to see him, and we know that's not true. Step forward please. It doesn't need to be a single-file line. I know we all feel like big kids, but this isn't kindergarten. We can stand next to our families and friends. We can even make new friends - share that Christmas spirit, that Christmas cheer! Step forward, please." *to a little kid* "Hi, what's your name? Would you like to stand right up here next to me by the railing where you can see the snowglobe with Santa? Step up, step forward please. After you turn the corner you are 5 minutes from Santa. I know you've heard that a lot, but if you can see that nutcracker, you can see the gatekeeper, and the gatekeeper is the one who sends you to see Santa. Step up, please, step up." Etc, etc, etc.

Shortcake uses a lot of cough drops in the maze or doing crowd control.

Shortcake got to visit the Bear Band today, and introduced some families to Franz, Hans, Fritz, Wilhelm, Reginald and Percival. Then she went down the maze a bit and named Gustave and Jean-Paul.

In short, (get it - Shortcake) being an elf is good, and Shortcake seems to have a natural inclination for it, even if Santa and Photo elfing is still scary.