A Note to Parents of Babies and Toddlers

Last Wednesday, I was Santa Claus for my wife's day care center. Let me share a simple conclusion from that experience which should be obvious to all, but evidently is not: if your baby or toddler is afraid of Santa, your best bet is to accept that reality and wait twelve months. Your munchkin will probably love Santa to death next year.

Now for some corollaries to the above thesis:

1. Reasoning with your baby will probably not dispel her fear. Saying over and over "Look, it's Santa Claus!" is likely to be ineffective.
2. Dragging your kicking, screaming kid toward a big, red, loud, white-bearded monster and forcing him onto the lap of said beast will not lessen your child's anxiety. This actually irritates your child, and it doesn't please Santa very much either.
   
3. Plopping an older brother of sister onto Santa's lap to show how safe this activity is will not convince your baby that she will not be immediately eaten alive as soon as she does the same.
   
4. Pointing a camera at your shrieking offspring who has a wad of curly, white facial hair in his fist will not stop the frantic, panic-driven yanking of said facial hair.
5. A course in child development would be a good investment of your money and time. In that class, they might teach you that when a child's not developmentally ready for something, the passing of time works wonders that no other strategy can accomplish. In other words, give it a rest. Grieve briefly the fact that you will not have a picture of your kid on Santa's lap this year and come back next year. You'll get much better results.