1) Scope out all the Santas in your area. Some Santas are kind of creepy looking, others have a bad background set-up. Make sure your child’s outfit will not clash with the colour of Santa’s chair! You also want to make sure your Santa has a nice clean suit. I made the mistake of picking a Santa without checking that…and low and behold his suit was raggedy, and the fur lining was dirty – Euw!
2) Do you want just a picture with Santa for your own enjoyment, or a whole package deal, with wallet sizes and 8X10’s for the grandparents? Not all Santas have the packages!
3) Dress your child up in their Holiday finery. The pictures always look cuter when the kids are in little taffeta dresses, or little Christmas ties. Don’t just drag the kids to see Santa after school, and their jeans have grass stains and they have mud all over their winter galoshes.
4) Bring an emergency kit. Kleenex for wiping snot off crying baby faces, a jingly toy to distract, and/or make your child smile and laugh, and a hairbrush to fix flyaways.
5) Bring back-up. Bring your spouse, or a friend with you to juggle the child, especially if the child is at the “running around like a banshee” stage. Everyone feels sorry for that one mom who is struggling to keep her kids near, carrying all the winter coats, paying for the pictures while making sure the little ones are smiling for the camera. Don’t be that mom!
6) Make it fun. Build up the anticipation to meet Santa as a fun, exciting thing to do. Let them write out their list and show Santa, or write their letter to Santa to drop in the mail box to the North Pole. Make an event of it, and take the kids out for IHOP afterwards…they will look forward to this every year and look back fondly on it when they are adults. Don’t drag your kid there if they really don’t want to, or are scared of Santa. Don’t force your kid on Santa’s lap if they are scared of him. “Facing your fears” doesn’t really work on a 3 year old and you don’t want to be paying those therapy bills years down the road.
Maplekitty
