The Thanksgiving turkey has been enjoyed and we are now digging into the leftovers. Christmas trees are for sale at roadside farm stands. Town centers have put up lights and wreaths. It is the Christmas season, and for parents of small children, one common question is whether or not to take their children to the mall (or elsewhere) for the ubiquitous photo with Santa Claus.
When I was a child, my sister and I went to see Santa at the mall almost every year. I am not sure how young we were the first time, and I am not sure whether there were any meltdowns, but we seemed to look okay in the pictures. Of course, not every child will be completely fine with sitting on a stranger’s lap for a photo op, especially when the stranger is not exactly dressed like anyone else around them. The internet is abuzz with “freaked out by Santa” photos, and while they are a little bit funny, I can only imagine how the kids feel. To them, the fear that they feel which sends them into scream – for – your – life mode must feel very real.
For some reason, holiday pictures with Santa Claus are so synonymous with the Christmas experience that even if you just gave birth to your child within the last month, well meaning friends and complete strangers alike will ask you whether you are taking the wee one for a Santa photo. I’m not going to tell you how to answer that one, that’s for you to decide. However, I can say that we do not yet have any pictures of Dylan with Santa Claus.
Honestly, I am not sure whether it was out of pure laziness, lack of desire to go to a crowded shopping center with a little one in tow, or a conscious effort to avoid introducing Dylan to the overly commercialized concept of Santa Claus, wish lists, and the like. Perhaps it was a combination of all of those things. This year, though, he wants to go and meet Santa Claus. I will take him, and given the very outgoing nature of his personality and his inclination to talk to everyone he sees, I think that he will enjoy the experience.
Photo by xenia on morguefile.com.