The Po Show

Sitting with Santa

One of the standard "precious childhood moments" for many parents is getting their kids' picture taken with Santa (duly noted, TC, before you even say anything ;-)...). I did not have any pictures of my children with Santa. When Matthew was little, he screamed at most strangers, let alone a stranger with a big beard and glasses, so we didn't even try. When he was a little older, we would sit near the Santa area, to see if he would be willing to try a visit. Once, when he was 3, we sat and watched other children visiting Santa for about 40 minutes, before he finally decided he just couldn't do it.

I didn't really try with Tessa when she was little, since I knew Matthew wouldn't go along (I still had some sense that if we had a picture with Santa, it should be with both children). Then she got older, and I asked if she'd sit with Santa by herself, and the answer was always no.

I didn't push, and it really didn't bother me (I have plenty of other things to be traumatized about, without worrying about not having a picture of my kids with Santa). But today I actually got my picture. Tessa was more than happy to visit Santa, was quite thrilled in fact. She wouldn't tell him what she wanted for Christmas (we have a fairly cheap-ass Santa, not the kind who brings kids Nintendo DSs or Wiis :D), but she was pretty relaxed and took a lovely picture.

Sure, it's WAY early for the mall to have Santa already (he's been there for almost 2 weeks, actually! What happened to waiting till after Thanksgiving?), but there were no lines, and I can check this precious childhood moment off my list.