OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

THE CANDY CANE
While taking photos of Santa Claus and the many children that showed up at the Minneota library on Saturday, I noticed two little kids sitting on the floor next to me looking through a goodie bag. Each child that showed up to visit Santa was given a bag with a few treats and toys in them.
The little boy and girl, who I suspected were brother and sister, were looking through each other's bag when the little girl noticed her brother had a small candy cane in his bag, but she didn't have one. My best guess is the girl was four years old and the boy was five.
"I didn't get a candy cane," the sad girl said, rummaging through her bag again.
Without blinking an eye, the little boy reached into his bag, pulled out his miniature candy cane wrapped in plastic and, without saying a word, dropped it into her bag. The smile on her face and the twinkle in her eye at even such a small offering as a candy cane nearly brought a tear to my eye.
Because I had already taken pictures of a few kids on Santa's lap, I knew that's where the boy got his candy cane. The little girl had not yet visited the bearded man in the red suit.
When it was her turn to sit on Santa's lap, she had a brief interaction with him and was then handed a candy cane.
The brother was still sitting on the floor a few feet from where I was standing. The girl walked over to where he was, showed him her candy cane, and dropped it into his bag. She then sat on the floor next to him and neither said a word.
I was stunned. In all my years I've never witnessed two kids that age act like civilized adults. The scene would likely have unfolded much differently with most siblings that age.
"Hey, you took my candy cane," the girl would have accused her brother before crying and throwing a tantrum.
When it was the girl's turn to sit on Santa's lap and receive a candy cane, the boy would have taken it from her, thrown it on the ground, and stomped on it until he made peppermint dust. Screaming, hitting and pulling hair would have ensued.
Maybe that's just me thinking back to my childhood with my sister.
The amazing part about these two little kids on Saturday was they acted as though they have done this many times before. There were no accusatory words or tantrums shown. These were the best-behaved pre-school children that I have ever seen in my life.
I leaned down and told them each how impressed I was at their behavior and they each looked at me as though they didn't have a clue what I was talking about because this was just normal behavior to them.
As I drove home that day, I was discouraged that I had not found out the names of these two children.
I had already taken several photos of children on Santa's lap and had tucked my camera back into its bag. Had I taken their photo, too, I would have asked their parents for their identities as I did for the other pictures I took that day.
Still, this is something that made my day. I couldn’t stop thinking about it throughout the remainder of the weekend. This was the day that I found out the true meaning of Christmas.
Although I may never know who these two children are, Santa knows, and he will surely bump them up to the top of his "Nice" list. They deserve it.
If the parents of these two adorable children saw me standing next to them, please contact me.

HOLIDAY CHEERS
• Because the two aforementioned children put me in such good spirits for the upcoming holidays, I thought I'd share a few Christmas jokes to put you in a good mood.
• A man recently stole an Advent calendar from a store. The judge sentenced him to 25 days.
• Two chess players were bragging about their game while competing in a hotel lobby over the holidays ... I guess you could say they were a couple of "Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."
• Why was the snowman looking through all the carrots at Brad's Market? He was picking his nose.
• Why didn't Rudolph make December's honor roll at school? Because he went down in history.
• How does a snow globe feel this time of the year? A little shaken.
• What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Ice Krispies.
• What is every parent's favorite Christmas carol? "Silent Night."
• What did the gingerbread man say after all the cookies were eaten? "It's so hard to bake new friends."
• Why does the Grinch enjoy gardening so much? Because he's got a green thumb.
• What did the wise men say after they offered their gifts of gold and frankincense? "Wait, there's myrrh."
• What's the Grinch's least favorite band? The Who
• What do you call a kid who doesn't believe in Santa? A rebel without a Claus.
• What's the difference between a knight and Santa's reindeer? One slays a dragon, and the other is draggin' the sleigh.
• How did the elf survive his first trip on Santa's sleigh? He held on for deer life.