Yes, there is a Santa Claus: It just takes him some time to get ready

What does it take to be Santa Claus?

A lot of patience and sometimes, a little bit of pain - from hot rollers.

Every morning, Santa gets his hair professionally done in his hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Elgin by Louise Russo-Deegan, an Elgin beautician at Regis Salon, located inside the mall.

After blow drying his hair, Russo-Deegan applies hair spray to his naturally white hair and then curls his locks and beard in hot rollers.

After about 15 minutes, she combs out his hair and beard, creating nice soft waves.

"I'm his little elf," said Russo-Deegan, who met him three weeks ago at the salon when she was scheduled to do his hair and he booked the appointment under Santa. "I'm so protective of him because he's so cute."

With his naturally rosy cheeks, Santa - who asked that the Daily Herald not reveal his real name - doesn't require additional grooming, not even makeup.

At the very end of the hair session, Santa shakes his hair to achieve that perfect windblown look.

"It can't look too neat because I just got off the sleigh," Santa said.

This Santa, although he hails from the North Pole, spends most of his time in Colorado.

It is his first time working at Spring Hill Mall - for 14 years, he has played Santa at malls all over the country.

In those years, he has learned quite a bit about children and human nature.

For example, he expects kids will tug on his beard and quiz him to see whether he's the real Santa - usually asking him if he knows all of the reindeer.

"Of course I do," said Santa, before rattling off all their names. "You just have to be quick on your feet."

He offers cute explanations to children for all things Santa-related.

When they ask where the reindeer are, he tells them they're practicing their takeoffs and landings for Christmas Eve.

If they want to know how he fits everything into his bag, he tells them it's a magic bag that always has room for one more toy.

And if they ask why they can't see Mrs. Claus, it's because she's in the North Pole supervising the elves with their toy making.

Santa knows sometimes kids are overwhelmed to see him and compare him to a higher power because Santa knows when you're naughty or nice, sees you when you're sleeping and has the ability to leave coal in your stocking.

So he makes the visit as pleasant as possible, often breaking the ice by asking them what they want for Christmas and letting them decide if they want to sit on his lap.

"They give me more power than I really have," he said. "I always tell them they need to try to be good. They're allowed mistakes."

When it comes to what they want, Santa takes cues from parents.

If a little girl says she wants a puppy and her parents indicate she won't get one, Santa has an answer for that.

"I'm certainly going to have a hard time getting a puppy in my bag," he'll say. "Will you be angry with Santa? Invariably, they say no."

But if the parent gives the green light for a puppy under the tree, Santa reminds the girl that she is responsible for looking after the animal.

On occasion, he's had to put rude children in their place.

A 10-year-old boy one time asked him in a loud voice whether he felt bad about lying to all of the children about Santa being real.

Santa silenced the boy by responding: "Not as bad as you should feel about spoiling it for all these children."

As a sign of the times and the age of the H1N1 flu, this Santa dons a different suit every day, carries hand sanitizer, wears gloves and brings medicine with him to ward off any colds that come his way.

Santa's stint at Spring Hill Mall began just before Thanksgiving and ends Christmas Eve.

Although he's been doing this for 14 years, he doesn't see an end in sight because he loves interacting with and bringing cheer to the children.

"It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done," he said. "It's amazing you can bring that much happiness into somebody's life."

But when Santa finally returns to the North Pole on Christmas Day, he will leave one Elgin elf a bit misty eyed.

"I'm going to miss him when he's gone," Russo-Deegan said. "To me, he is Santa."