Dear readers,
Shortcake is sicky. She is not sick, but she is exhibiting many symptoms. Basically, working for six days straight took a toll on her voice, which gave her a sore throat, which led to a hacking cough, which gave way to a sniffly nose. Because Shortcake spent the day sucking on sugar-free Ricolas back-to-back in order to contain the cough in front of visitors, her stomach and digestive system are now very cranky. And noisy. Also, she has a headache, probably from dehydration. Other than that, Shortcake feels fine. No worries, she takes cough medicine on schedule, took some ibuprofen, antacid, and will soon have Throat Coat tea.
Despite these maladies, she worked a full day, first as gatekeeper. It was a pretty easy two hours, with one request for Good-Lookin' Santa, and some school groups. Starshine said Shortcake was a good gatekeeper, and Shortcake decided that Starshine and she should stay friends, even after they return to the North Pole in January.
After a 20 minute break, wherein Shortcake took her cough medicine and discussed scary novels, she was sent to crowd control. It wasn't so bad because the line started to die down, so she didn't have to shout as much as usual.
After lunch (consisting of soup and some throat coat tea - see, various mom readers, Shortcake knows how to take care of herself - she also Purells constantly - Lunch also consisted of this amazing pumpkin bar almost cheesecake deliciousness made by one of the managers), Shortcake was sent to Santa elf. She worked for two great Photo elfs: Periwinkle, who had very minimalized movements, and could get kids attention very quickly, and Snickerdoodle, whose technique was more like Shortcake's. Santa was very affected by a family he saw wherein the mother said the kids father and grandmother had died this year. There was also a visit with Good-Lookin' Santa. Shortcake's first! It was very exciting, and the mom was thrilled because the little girl used to hate Santa because she was so upset that no one looked like her (darker complexion). (Good-Lookin' Santa, for those not in the know, has a darker complexion as well.)
There are times when people need to be held in the house, even though the visit is over, because Mrs. Clause has just baked a batch of cookies and is hiding them from Santa (he has a voracious appetite for them), and Shortcake is given the job of distracting the people in the house from noticing where Mrs. Clause is hiding the cookies, so they don't tell Santa. Shortcake uses this opportunity to doublecheck and clarify gift requests so they are entered correctly in the log, and the elves tracking gifts make sure they put the right labels on.
2 comments:
Well... there's your problem right there. It's that purell stuff. If you rely on external agents to kill off germs, your immune system never gets to see the stuff it needs to adapt to in order to fight it. Soap and water. They're kids for goodness sake, it's not like they've got typhoid.
Dear Shortcake Jingleberry,
You keep on using that purell sanitizer and soap and water; remember what happened to the Native Americans when the white men came????? That's right, they got all kinds of diseases; kids carry germs. Believe me, you never want to go through the lunch line after the kindergartners do. This is not being harsh or anti-children, just a fact of life. They wash their hands with soap and water before leaving their classroom, but do you know what happens on the way to the lunchroom? They touch the walls, they touch their shoes, they stick their fingers in their mouths and up their tiny little nostrils and then wipe them on their shirts and pants, if not on the child in front of them. Then they get to the computer and punch in their codes. Those little fingers which, just three minutes earlier, were washed with soap and water are now on their journey to the salad bar.
"I don't know if I like that orange fluffy stuff...I'll take a little taste". Does he/she use a spoon and put some on the lunch tray? Nooooo, a finger is much easier.
What if the handle of the serving spoon falls into the chocolate pudding? Do you tell the teacher? Nooooo, you just stick your fingers in and get it out. And that is only the first two items to choose from...
But to get back to elves and Native Americans, elves are accustomed to a colder climate where germs are less abundant (remember germs like warm moist environments). Children are warm and moist; therefore, natural carriers of germs, and elves (especially hardworking elves who haven't gotten enough rest) are easily infected by these adorable children who come to see Santa.
Some homemade chicken soup would also help you recover. You are a wonderful elf, Shortcake Jingleberry.
Love, ELF's mom
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