Children Wiggling On Lap Is All Mall Santa Wants For Christmas

Story by Ben Plowman 

| Published Dec 15, 2009

Despite being a professional shopping mall Santa, Clayton Speegle doesn't often get asked what he wants for Christmas. Even more surprising is that after long days wherein hundreds of children line up to sit on his lap, he thinks it would be selfish to ask for more.

"To be honest, I'm pretty fulfilled with my Santa work. I guess if I could ask for one thing, it would be a longer Christmas shopping season so I could put in some more hours and smell a few more heads of hair as the children shift excitedly in my lap to tell me what they want most of all," said Speegle.

Speegle only makes "a little more than minimum wage," but despite the high turnover rate and long hours required of mall Santas, he doesn't plan to give it up anytime soon.

"It's hard to find good work in the off-season, and I hear tons of Santas complain that the pay isn't worth the long hours. Every once in a while, however, you get the cutest kid in the world, one who isn't afraid of you and takes her sweet time telling you what she wants. Then it's all worth it," Speegle said.

"Maybe it's all this Christmas spirit every day, but it makes me wish I could be the real Santa. You sneak into kids' houses at night, eat whatever food you can find and make the dreams of little boys and girls come true while they pretend to be asleep," said Speegle.
"Merry Christmas indeed," he added.