Christmas Eve at NORAD

Parent Cafe
1

<p>The past few years, I’ve been volunteering to take phone calls on Christmas Eve from kids all around the world when they call NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs as they track Santa on his journey around the world. Kids are hilarious, but so are some of the parents. Here are a few samples of calls this year:</p>

<p>Kid: When will Santa get here?
Me: Where do you live?
Kid (turned away from the phone): Mom, this man on the phone wants to know my address. Can I tell him?
Mom (in background): NO!! Santa should KNOW where you live.</p>

<p>Little kid with shy-sounding voice: When will Santa get here?
Me: Where are you?
Little kid: in Florida.
Me: OH NO! SANTA’S RIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR…
Little kid: <<stunned silence=“”>>
Me: JUST KIDDING! JUST KIDDING!</stunned></p>

<p>Kid: Where’s Santa now?
Me: In Africa, actually. Where are you?
Kid: Australia
Me: Uhhh… Santa’s already been there. Did he miss your house?
Kid: No, it’s Christmas morning here. We got our presents. I just wanted to know where he was now.</p>

<p>Me: Hello, this is NORAD Tracking Santa. Can I help you?
Mom and kid on speakerphone: We’re watching on the computer and Santa just turned around and went back to Ireland again.
Me: I saw that too. I guess someone was awake and he had to go back after they went to sleep.</p>

<p>Mom (with daughter on speakerphone): Santa called us today.
Me: He DID? Wow!
Mom: He wanted to explain that one of his elves made a big mistake.
Me: Huh?
Mom: Santa said that when the elves were loading the sleigh, some parts fell off one of the toys, so the one he was delivering was missing some parts, and that he’d send the parts later,
Me: Those elves…</p>

<p>Boy: My cousin doesn’t believe in Santa.
Me: How old is your cousin?
Boy: Nine
Me: Well, something happens when you turn about eight or nine. You think you know the truth about everything. It’s not until later when you grow up you find out the REAL truth and realize how dumb you were.
Boy: Well I must be a GENIUS, cause I believe in Santa.</p>

2

<p>Those are priceless. How much fun it must be to answer those calls.</p>

<p>Wow. Thanks so much for sharing and taking on this volunteer position.</p>

3

<p>Do OOSers get to volunteer for this or only locals? Sounds like loads of fun.</p>

4

<p>The volunteers come generally from NORAD and DoD personnel and their families. My company gets a small number of slots each year since they provide the telephone and networking services. It’s done from Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs, although this year, one line was remote: to Hawaii, where Michelle Obama took calls as well.</p>

5

<p>I’d rather do this type of volunteer worki than volunteer at my kids’ colleges…is this something that can be done from anywhere? How do we sign up?</p>

6

<p>One of my favorites from last year was from a little girl who was absolutely convinced that Santa was bringing her a reindeer:</p>

<p>Me: Are you sure? Don’t you mean a stuffed animal reindeer?
Girl: I KNOW he’s bringing me a real reindeer.
Me: Do you live on a farm or a ranch?
Girl: No, just a regular house, but I fixed up the backyard for it.
Me: And you’re sure of this?
Girl: My mom says absolutely not, but I’m still sure.</p>

7

<p>What a great opportunity!</p>

8

<p>Those are just wonderful. Thanks for posting them!</p>

9

<p>please make this an annual thread - these are priceless! thanks for sharing :)</p>

10

<p>I loved reading this also!</p>

11

<p>

</p>

<p>That’s actually a good idea… just for documenting purposes. I had a ton of funny calls last year and now can’t remember them. :(</p>

12

<p>Another from this year, where the mom was trying to get the little one into bed ASAP:</p>

<p>(Mom and daughter on speakerphone): When will Santa get here?
Me: Where do you live?
Mom: In Indiana.
Me: Well, looking at the tracking radar, I think he’ll be there about 10:30.
Mom: Did you say 8:30?
Me: No, 10:30.
Mom: Didn’t you say 8:30? Can’t Santa be here at 8:30?
Me: Let me look again… Oh, you’re right. Santa will be there at 8:30.</p>

13

<p>One more…</p>

<p>Me: Are you ready for Santa?
Kid: Yup! We’re ready. We even put out some snacks.
Me: Milk and cookies?
Kid: Brownies and carrots.
Me: Ah… carrots?
Kid: For the reindeer!
Me: Oh, right.</p>

14

<p>digmedia, thanks so much !! I loved your posts. </p>

<p>I also LOVE Norad’s Santa Tracking. I used to call when I was a little child, and back then I’d get a recorded message. Now - and I’m in my 50’s - I bring Norad up on the computer a couple of times every hour on Dec 24th. My kids think I’m positively crazy, but it’s just one of those things I love doing. And more than anything, I love hearing the updates from the volunteers. What they, and you, do on Christmas Eve is just such a perfect example of Christmas spirit. Happy New Year!</p>

15

<p>So cute! I love when the moms ‘help’ you answer the questions.</p>

16

<p>It really helps you do this if - like me - you still strongly believe in Santa, although you know the reality: It’s a big job that needs to be done on Christmas Eve and Santa needs lots of helpers. That does not distract from his magic.</p>

17

<p>Thank you for sharing your experiences. </p>

<p>If you called Norad to track Santa and Michelle Obama answered, would you believe it was her?</p>

18

<p>I was always too afraid to call as a kid, though my cousin did when we were like 9 or 10… Around the age where we were almost too old to believe in Santa. (I still remember where I was when my mom told me that Santa wasn’t real!)</p>

<p>But this year, my sister and I definitely watched the Radar online and Santa sent her a video message specifically for her through the Portable North Pole. She loved it. =) [She’s seven.]</p>