It’s a very odd tradition we see every year. Parents bring their kids to visit with Santa at the mall or some department store. They fork over some cash to capture the visit in a photo for posterity. And what a surprise – the kid is crying and screaming their heads off, frightened out of the minds of having to sit on the lap of this creepy, bearded fat guy.
Family albums across the globe must be filled with these bizarre photographs. I think they might have even become a nutty ‘thing’ around Christmas, like ugly Christmas sweaters.
You know, a thing that was meant to be a fun, nice tradition, but eventually people got clued in on how wacky it was, but they decided to keep it around just because it had already been labeled a ‘Christmas tradition’. Now they’ve embraced how ludicrous the results usually are.
It’s a rare instance where I see a happy, smiling child in these Santa pictures. When it does happen that’s usually due to the fact the kid is so young he has no idea what is happening.
I prefer looking at the older photographs of kids sitting on Santa’s lap than ones taken today. Back in the day these hired Santa’s looked really rough. Ugly outfits, grotesque fake beards, if this was the real Santa then Christmas was in trouble.
The poor condition of Santa really helps make these older pictures much funnier. The quality of Santa’s appearance might have improved over the years, but that doesn’t change the fact the kids have tears in their eyes and reaching for Mommy when the camera is clicked.
I took my son to see Santa just last week. He is 2 years 10 months. He did look genuinely confused until the magic word “presents” was mentioned and when he saw a large present for him, he got very excited. Did not cry once. Daddy cried when I realised I paid $10 for a $2 plastic car and 5 minutes with a stranger in a costume. Still…..it’s Christmas. Snow, mince pies and disappointment.