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Or more specifically, Anna, who works full time as a podcast producer.
Illustration by Isabel Bacon
Brant, partway through the dyeing process.
Brant, mid-dye session.
So tell me how the season begins for you.
Brant, partway through the dyeing process.
Beginning November 16, I have 29 solo parent days.
Fifteen of the days are full weekend days or days with no daycarethose are the really tough ones.
Im hoping that with a three-year-old and 10-month-old, this is going to be the hardest year.
Brant, mid-dye session.
But who knows what future years will be like.
Brants usually at the mall by either 9 or 10 a.m. and home after the kids are in bed.
If its pet night, hes home closer to 10 or 10:30 p.m., because pet nights go longer.
Brant, fully transformed and in his chair.
His dressing room is an old Gap dressing room.
Did you know that?
What are pet nights?
Anna, Remy, and Brant
Its when pets come to visit him instead of kids.
People bring their iguanas, cats, dogs, gerbils, and hamsters.
So if its a pet night, it’s later, because people without kids can go longer.
“He cuts off his beard every Christmas day, and he starts growing it right then for the next year,” says Anna.
So hes working, like, 12 hour shifts?
I mean, he sees thousands of kids every year.
The appointments are, like, three to five minutes each.
How did you first discover that Brant was Santa Claus?
This is his ninth year of doing it.
I knew he was Santa before we started dating.
I thought it was really cool.
I’m an actor, he’s an actor, and it seemed like a wonderful Christmas gig.
And, um, I will admit he is very jolly.
How old was he when he started playing Santa Claus?
Hes 42 now, so 33.
Which is really young, right?
Brant, fully transformed and in his chair.
But ittakes a lotto go white.
Many, many hours in hair appointments.
The dyeing process starts in early November, and you cant go from brown and gray hair to white.
It has to go light brown, orange, and then blonde.
But literally hours later the beard starts growing back, likeTim Allen inThe Santa Claus.
Does any of this affect your attraction?
No, no, hes so handsome as Santa.
Its not like a kink.
And it was a joke, but its true.
I will say neither child was conceived with Santa.
Does his white beard hair ever clog up the sink or anything?
Theres white curly white hair all over my bathroom.
Where does he get his Santa suit?
And what is his makeup routine like?
It is all hand tailored for Brant.
Her name is Sondra.
He also wear Birkenstock clogs.
Theblushis a mystery vial of liquid makeup that his mom gave him.
The label wore off, but I think its Benetint!
What is child care normally like and how does it change during the Christmas season?
So Lunas three and a half, Remys 10 months old.
They go to full-time day care.
Remy is a massive baby.
Hes like 22 pounds now.
I had to make scrambled eggs for him the other day.
I was holding him on my hip and my body was screaming by the time I was done.
Thats what I thought this Christmas season was going to look like.
The 10-month-old can crawl across the house in five seconds.
He can pull up on anything; he screams if I leave his sight.
I have not peed or pooped without him since Santa season started.
The dyeing process starts in early November, and you cant go from brown and gray hair to white.
Its the hardest when there are unstructured hours.
Theres a park down the street I wanted to walk to.
They were both swinging.
That was a happy moment.
And Im like, surely that ate up some time.
It was 31 minutes.
How do you explain where dad is?
Dads at the mall.
She calls him Santa daddy when he turns white.
She came up with that at one and a half.
She’s like, Is daddy daddy today?
Or is he Santa daddy today?
That means Is he going to be at the mall or is he going to be home with us?
Like, it couldnt be more clear.
Anna, Remy, and Brant
So how do you guys separate the myth of Santa with mall Santa?
I dont think she cares.
Yesterday he forgot his disguise.
He looked so sketchy trying to hide in a daycare parking lot.
The disguise that he thinks works really well, in my opinion, does not.
His beard is always bursting out of it.
That just looks more like Santa in disguise.
100%
Why does he feel like he has to hide it though?
And he was like, Hello…. You know?
He’s Santa in street clothes.
A lot of professional Santas embody the character of Santa 365 days a year.
They get red cars with antlers on the front.
They wear red coats.
They love to be recognized.
That is not Brant.
Only in the context of seeing kids as Santa does he want to embody that character.
It’s also weird when he’s in jeans.
Do you see yourself as Mrs. Claus?
Its just not natural for a Mrs. Claus to have young children.
Im like the opposite of Mrs. Claus.
I wish I could be her, but Santas are older, traditionally, so their wives are older.
They get to, like, be retired, and make cookies.
Oh my God, that would be the best.
He would love to do this for the rest of his life.
So, Im really hoping that well all work there someday with him.
Like the kids will be elves and check people in.
And I can do whateverbe Mrs. Claus, or do social media.
Have there been any solo parenting low points?
In our hardest times, when we’re like This is relentless, why is he doing this?
Were very lucky to have that.
By the end of the night, I feel like a truck hit me.
Brants actually very helpful when he comes home.
We are on opposite ends of the couch just breathing.
And we watch those not because were so Christmassy.
Its because that is the level that our brains can comprehend right now.
Now Im like, Oh, I can do this.
This interview was lightly edited and condensed.
