half-truths in the name of santa

we've reached a childhood milestone: it's time to get our little man a big boy 2-wheeler with training wheels. what fun! so we took grant to the bike store and found a super-cool, orange diamondback mini-viper that he rode happily all around the store. this was it. this was THE ONE.

salesperson: "wow, grant. you like that bike?"

grant: "i do. this is the one santa is going to bring me. but it's gonna be red. with dinosaurs on it."

salesperson: "hmmm. this bike doesn't come in red. it only comes in orange, blue and white. might have a problem there."

grant: "no, don't worry. santa will bring it for me."

fast forward 2 weeks and i've yet to find a red bike that will do. i've been trying to warm grant up to the idea of an orange, blue or white bike, but up until this morning he hadn't budged. then, at the breakfast table...

me: "hey grant, santa called me last night and he said that he's running out of red paint and he was wondering if you'd maybe want a bike in a different color."

grant: "no, i want a red bike."

me: "but he said that he's almost out of red paint! OH NO! what if he doesn't have any more red paint and he has to choose a different color to put on your bike? OH NO! what if he makes your bike PINK???"

grant: "mmmm. [thinks deeply] then an orange bike." [score!!!]

me, in the most over-the-top insane mom voice ever: "ooh, an ORANGE bike! i LOVE orange. ORANGE IS AN AWESOME COLOR! let me call santa RIGHT NOW and tell him you want an orange bike. [pretend to dial phone] hi santa! it's carrie, grant's mom, in manhattan beach. how are you? busy? oh, i bet. well, i wanted to let you know that grant said he would be happy with an ORANGE bike instead of a red one since you're running out of red paint. oh, orange is your favorite color? wow! me too! i never would've guessed that! ok, so an orange bike it is. great. [uh oh, here comes grant, pulling on my leg asking to talk to santa] oh, you're so busy you have to go? ok, bye santa!!!"

grant: "mom, i wanted to talk to santa!"

me: "he was soooooooo busy with the toys but he said you can call him tonight, ok?"

grant, eyes wide: "ok mom. that'll be GREAT!"

hopefully papa nichols will be able to put on a passable santa voice tonight. and if anyone knows a good source for weather-proof dinosaur stickers, let me know.