Santa’s job description and characteristics are clearly outlined in the classic ” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

Roger Spaete gets hot wearing the false beard and the extra large belly. But it’s well worth it, he said. “The main reason I do it is fun.”

Though the big beard and belly are only part of the costume, the twinkling eyes and the jolly laugh make this North Grand Mall Santa more like the Santa in the Christmas tale.

“He makes the perfect Santa because he’s a warm, caring person who treats people with kindness and respect year round,” said Nicole Peterson, director of marketing for North Grand Mall. “He has this uproarious laugh that is contagious — just like you’d imagine Santa’s ‘ho, ho, ho’ to be.”

This is Spaete’s first year as a mall Santa. He is already on the mall staff and volunteered for the job when he found out there was an open shift.

Getting all suited up as Santa has led to some great stories, Spaete said.

He said the most interesting reply he’s heard when asking children what they want for Christmas was when one child asked for a baby. The request was made “just as plain as day,” he said.

Spaete was so surprised he asked if the child wanted a doll or a real baby, just to make sure.

When he asked “what do you want, a boy or a girl?” the reply was, “It doesn’t matter.”

“I thought, oh man, that’s strange,” Spaete said.

On his shift, a college girl has also kissed Spaete on the cheek and then ran off. “I think her friends put her up to it,” he said.

Often little kids are much more shy.

“There was one little boy that had never seen Santa before that just stood outside the fence and watched me,” he said. “He did finally wave at me and smile.

“Some kids are scared,” Spaete said. “Some kids just sit on my lap and talk up a storm.”

The kids don’t really ask questions about the North Pole or any of the reindeer, he said. They just want to make sure Santa gets their lists.

The hot items on this year’s lists are the Xbox and Barbie, Spaete said.

Also on the list are items that may have been on college students’ lists as kids.

Transformers and Care Bears are making a comeback, he said.

“My daughter, who is a junior in college, had a Care Bear,” Spaete said. “It’s unreal.”

One boy just sat there when Spaete asked him what he wanted for Christmas, Spaete said. The boy was trying to think what was on his list, which he forgot at home, and was worried that Santa might not bring anything without the list.

“I told him he could mail it to me,” Spaete said.

While seeing Santa is all about the list for the kids, for Santa, it’s all about the kids.

“The best part is seeing the looks on kids’ faces,” Spaete said.

Since he can have about 100 kids sit on his lap during a three-hour shift, Spaete has to really like children. And he’s had plenty of experience. As the second oldest child in his family, he was always helping with his younger siblings. He has also worked in the nursery of his church for 18 years, he said.

Even when watching a local parade, within five minutes he’ll have kids sitting next to him or on his lap, Spaete said.

“My kids call me a kid magnet,” he said.