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How to choose the right Santa Claus for your child
Our hero, 34-year-old Vitaly Dolya, became a “grandfather” when he was very young. He shared with Woman’s Day the intricacies of Santa Claus’s work and gave advice on how not to miscalculate by calling the wizard at home.
It always seemed to me: it’s great to be Santa Claus, to give people joy. I dreamed of becoming one since childhood. My grandmother even sewed his suit for me when I was six years old. And as a student, he decided to make his dream come true: he wrote advertising leaflets “Santa Claus with a visit to the house”, stood at the store “Detsky Mir” and handed them out. Orders poured in, but problems immediately appeared: a normal beard turned out to be impossible to buy. It was in the 90s – a difficult time even for wizards! Fortunately, good people suggested: in one market there was a shoemaker who knew how to make a beard from nylon threads. That’s how I became Santa Claus.
The main thing is that the suit is sitting
Now I have great outfit. My natural beard is 1,5 meters long. 28 thousand worth. Do you think it’s expensive? In our business, the costume should be such that the child does not doubt for a second that he is a real Santa Claus. If a mischievous man wants to rip off his beard, it’s not like that! Sits like a glove and looks like a native.
Santa Claus should smell like a holiday – when I go to the children, I splash with a special perfume with the scent of tangerines or a Christmas tree.
Santa Claus fur coat is half the success. A real wizard cannot wear a “red robe” with jeans and boots sticking out from under it. His skin should not show through under the mittens and under the collar – he is not a man. Personally, I wear a white turtleneck with a high neck under my outerwear, and white gloves are sewn to the sleeves. My fur coat is sewn to order according to an exclusive pattern, it is decorated with Swarovski crystals and costs 46 thousand rubles. There are not many fashionistas like me, more precisely, there are only four of us. I am from Omsk, and three of my friends are from Penza, Samara and Moscow. Every year we share photos and jokingly compete to see who has the coolest costume. I am not saying all this to brag. It is difficult to surpass Santa Claus from Veliky Ustyug, but the status obliges to keep the brand.
The real Santa Claus is disinterested. In my youth, a story happened to me. I was returning from the last order tired in the trolleybus, right in the image. Then a drunk guy sits down:
– You are Santa Claus, right? Can you congratulate my children?
In a word, he is so attached that it is impossible to refuse. Fortunately, he lived not far from me. Come on, I ask: “Have you prepared gifts for the children?” And he has only chocolates in his hands … They came, and I realized that the family is very poor. The children saw me and were so happy! They sang, danced, recited poems – the holiday was over with a bang. Fortunately, there were extra gifts in the bag – I gave them to the guys. I didn’t take money from my parents. We said goodbye, when suddenly on the stairs someone caught up with me and grabbed me by the sleeve. I turn around – the father of the family is standing, and tears are rolling from his eyes. And he says to me, a 19-year-old boy: “You are a real Santa Claus! Today I believed in a miracle, thank you! “
This is such a return in our profession – nothing else beats! And after this incident, I always have a few spare gifts in my bag.
“I’ll read you a letter, but first I’ll pee”
Children are a very difficult audience for me. You can’t cheat them, you can’t cheat them. They examine you carefully from head to toe – what eyelashes, what makeup, what socks under the boot. I try to please – I put on funny socks with snowflakes and ask to help my grandfather take off his shoes. To gain the trust of a child, you need to be sincere and give your best.
There are difficult but funny situations.
Once I came to congratulate a 5-year-old girl, and she was embarrassed. Gradually she liked me, but instead of the allotted 30 minutes, it took 1:40. However, the most difficult thing was not to gain confidence in the girl, but to leave the apartment. I say: “I have to go! “Girl:” Grandpa, don’t go! ” She showed me all her toys, we read all her books. I repeat: “Okay, I’m off!” She: “No! You didn’t drink your tea! “We are sitting, drinking tea, I’m dripping sweat in a fur coat, but we cannot show it. Finally I went to the exit, and again a girl stood in front of me: “Grandpa, I haven’t read my letter to you! I’ll bring it right now, just wait, I’ll run to pee! “
As the saying goes, do what you want, but you can’t break faith in a fairy tale!
In my work, it is important that a fire burns in my soul. This is a special state – you put on a suit, and your view of the world changes. I do not divide people into children and adults, for me all children, even at 70 years old. In every child lives, you just need to wake him up. Do you know when I felt like a real wizard? In the first year of work. There was no money for a taxi, I went in a suit of Santa Claus in public transport. It was then that I caught a real buzz! People were happy, asked to be photographed. Even now, when I drive in the image, they honk me, they give way, cool!
Now many are looking for Santa Claus and Snegurochka through private ads, choosing cheaper options. This is a risky path, it is better to order a wizard through professional agencies. And so that the child is not frightened, ask them for a photo of the old man and show it to the child in advance. If you do everything right, then a real Santa Claus will come to you. And this means that a person will always believe in him. Even if one day he realizes that parents put gifts under the tree, he will still believe in miracles and magic!