Santa Claus is Coming To Town

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

16 Dec 2006 04:17 PM

It's a big day for you and your baby when you head to the mall for that first photograph with Santa Claus. Depending on the age of your baby, this can be a tremendously fun experience or it can be traumatic. Our kids love the idea of a jolly old man with his twinkling eyes and gentle manner. But not every mall Santa falls into this category and not every baby sees a genial old man who is going to provide a fun photograph for mom and dad's scrapbooks.

Santa is a Stranger

Every baby goes through phases of stranger anxiety. Stranger anxiety can make Santa seem like a very unpleasant figure and he can make your baby cry. When my daughter was 1, I took her for her first Santa Claus visit. She was dressed in a pretty red plaid dress with a white bib collar. She was a very happy baby and she was very bouncy about going out and about. The whole experience was very pleasant as we stood in line and she babbled to the people around her and looked at all the decorations.

She was happy and cheerful even when she first saw the Santa. She held her arms out to him and laughed. She squealed when he settled her on his lap and then just as the picture was taken, she started wailing like crazy. She was upset and disconcerted and wailing quite loudly. As soon as I swooped in and took her back, she was wreathed in smiles once again.

Remember, Your Baby Doesn't Know What You Do

You want pictures of your baby so you can remember these precious moments. You want those photographs because they take advantage of the opportunity of the season. But your baby doesn't know this and all your baby knows is the experience they've had so far. So maybe your baby will cry or maybe they will smile. But there will never be another picture like that one. So enjoy your visit to Santa Claus and don't stress your baby if you don't want to - but they will enjoy looking at those pictures later in life and so will you.

On my wall, there is a photograph of a baby, a wail on her face and a damp of tears around her eyes while wearing a red plaid dress with a white bib and sitting in Santa's lap. My daughter adores this photograph of herself and I remember all the precious moments leading up to it and following it and I'm reminded of it every time that Santa Claus comes to town.

Related Articles:

The Inner Workings of Your Baby's Mind Part III: Social Intellect

My Toddler is Anti-Social

Socializing Baby at Home

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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Kori Rodley Irons (8277) 25 Dec 2006 12:40 PM

My kids were all savy and wise enough to feel scared of Santa. He was a big, scary, loud stranger to them and I "got" that it didn't make sense that they should put aside their natural apprehensions and self-regulating skills one time a year to climb up on a stranger's lap in public--so I didn't push the mall Santa experience on them. When they got a little older--early elementary age--they tried out chatting with Santa but sitting on the lap was out. I was okay with that. This didn't mean they didn't believe in Santa--they did when they were younger, but as my daughter said about the whole mall Santa thing, "It was creepy" and I had to respect that.