I feel your pain. My son did the same thing (so did my mother). I think that is one reason I told him the truth about Santa at a young age. I hated to do it but he asked and I told him the truth.

My granddaughter is 18 months old and has the same reaction. Last year and this year. As a grandmother I do not have to have the Santa pictures. I rather see the grand happy.

You know the worst? The parents who actually DO force their screaming child to sit in the mall Santa's lap. I always want to call CPS on them.

But many parents do torture thier children as witnessed here: http://tinyurl.com/3nlf3

And I wanted to say THANK YOU!! for the book I won in last months contest. It arrived this past weekend. I will be reading it (and Beth's also) next week after the Christmas craziness is done.

Karen Toner

Well, Karen beat me to it, but there are plenty of kids who don't 'appreciate' Santa. And really, we try to teach kids not to talk to strangers, but dress him in red, and now it's okay.

We have a photo of my older sister (circa age 4) sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap, and she looks like she's about to start a bar brawl.

I guess my mom learned her lesson with that, because my brother and I never had to do any Santa/Easter Bunny visits.

Whit,
My mom used to do the same thing. She never quite understood why I had no desire to stand in line for hours, bribe the kids up on that strange man's lap, and then spend a ridiculous amount of money for a pic that nobody really wants anyhow. Finally, the oldest one learned "The Truth About Santa", and put an end to that little tradition. She whispered it to #2, and he loudly proclaimed it to #3 & 4. By the time # 5 & 6 were old enough to believe, we thought "What's the point?" so we never even told them about Santa. At my Christmas party last week, there was a Santa. The baby, age 5, came running back to the table and said, "Hey, Dad, check this out! There's a big guy over there dressed all in red, and his name is Santa, and he's giving out FREE CANDY! How cool is that?"
She is sooooo my daughter! Forget all about "Don't talk to strangers" when they're waving candy in your face. Well, at least it was CHOCOLATE. A girl has to have her standards, right?

And Inquiring Minds want to know...

Who won the contest with all the fabulous books? That's today, right?

That's the thing about moms, man. They just never give up! And, for what it's worth, I've never taken either Sweetness or Light to see a mall Santa. There's something about putting my girls on the lap of a strange man who needs money bad enough to dress up as Santa at the mall that kinda creeps me out.

Maybe take that angle with your mom. :)

The kidlet, age 7, is not a fan of Santa. So we don't go. He was at the LA County Fair this year and his cousin's eagerly sat and took an adorable picture. Kidlet wouldn't have anything to do with him. Ah, well, such is life.

I have a little bit of a different perspective on Santa. After all, I'm the daughter of Santa. He's not a Mall Santa. He was the "Hardware Santa"... he isn't anymore, but that's because of his boss and his greed. He did free polaroid pictures for everyone who came to see him. He did this for 12+ years. It was so much fun, my husband and I volunteered to help each year. He was a gentle and loving Santa. With kids who were afraid of him, he never forced himself, instead he would get on their level and just talk to them, and eventually they'd come up on their own to have their free picture taken. It was so awesome. I couldn't wait to have my children, so they could get their picture with him. People could bring food and money donations, and the food would go to the food bank and the monitary donations would go to the Children's Miracle Network. BUT, that tradition is gone. SO, I just take Santa with me to the photographer!

Maegan HATES him! Not enough to scream and run and hide, but enough to not look at him in the eyes... which kind of cracks me up, seeing as he is her grandfather, whom she adores, and if she'd only look in those beautiful eyes, she'd know exactly who it is. She will sit on his lap, and smile for the camera, but will NOT look at him. Wils, on the other hand, being all of 4 months at the time, thought Santa was the best thing since breastmilk! We got some priceless pictures of the kids with him. They are beautiful and worth it. My mom never nags me about it... she knows it's something I love. HOWEVER, I'd NEVER take her to the Mall Santa, it's NOT worth it for someone who could give a rats rear if she smiles for the picture or not, and could careless to try and make her feel more comfortable. I like that we are related to Santa. I feel much safer that way.

And, sorry to make this so long, but I must add Maegan's statement to her PopPop when we went to his house following the portraits. "PopPop, Santa talks just like you, but he's nicer. He gives me candy!" 2 weeks later Santa was at her school and she held on to her teacher for dear life and wouldn't go NEAR him. She's three, that's all I can say.