After all the hubbub and glory that surrounds a Professional Santa (PS) in the weeks preceding Christmas Day, there is a bit of a letdown emotionally in the weeks directly after. I know my PS does get a little depressed and misses the excitement, as well as being a center of attention. Personally, I look forward to Christmas Day as being the end of a whirlwind of activity involving getting my PS ready for his gigs. There is a whole logistical review of what costume gets worn to which gig, any repairs and cleaning that has to be accomplished, etc. So getting the costumes cleaned, tagged and put away means the start of a new year. And every year my PS and I have a little disagreement about how soon everything has to end... or start again. It is the different viewpoints that keep our relationship exciting, right?
So we have developed a sort of ritual. We ignore Santa for the week between Christmas Day and New Year's Day - unless by some stroke of luck we have a postponed or late Holiday party that needs a PS. (We have had that happen in previous years; this year, no.) Then we look over all the costumes to see if anything needs a better repair, or if it can be improved to be more 'wearable,' or more showy, then wash, hang to dry and assemble the costumes into storage bags, labeling so we know which costumes are contained within the opaque bags. One room in our house ends up looking like a costume house during this process. Still, we take our time with this part, so the transition is not so jarring - I learned this, after trying for many years, that to rush the process leads to a cranky hubby!
Before the trim, the week between the Holidays
After this, we have to lose the "Old Gentleman," as my PS sometimes calls his character. His beard and hair are now naturally white, so he can resemble Santa all year, but that makes it hard to transition into 'civilian' life. So the beard gets shaved down to a semblance of a three-day growth and his shoulder-length hair gets a major cut. He does the shaving, and I cut his hair (I have a bit of an ability to do this, after years of cutting first my mother's hair, then mine and his.) It is impressive how people react after the transformation. My PS went to his regular job after his normal days off and his co-workers did not recognize him! Shows how we expect people to look all the time, and how we become accustomed to the familiar.
This year, because bookings were down and the season did not have as many highs as usual, I thought I might show some solidarity by cutting my hair off as well. Not as a dramatic a transformation as losing the Old Gentleman, but I think it helped us both to see this year as a new start. (Of course, the weather has been incredibly cold since my decision, and I am not used to my neck being exposed, but that is a personal matter - that is why scarves were invented!)
And Santa will be back soon - the hair and beard will start to be allowed back in August. The cycle, Lord Willing and the creek don't rise, continues...
