Now for some corollaries to the above thesis:
- Reasoning with your baby will probably not dispel her fear. Saying over and over "Look, it's Santa Claus!" is likely to be ineffective.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
6 comments:
We have a picture of Pink Pixie with Santa when she was 10 months and then not another one until she was 4 or 5. He really freaked her out! She didn't like the big characters at the WDIV Christmas party either -- Elmo and Spongebob were fine on TV, but not so much in person.
I was SC for Keeley's pre-school when she was 3.
Long story short (and this you can add to your list if said Santa is the father of one of the kids):
We though it would be wise, after Keeley was crying and screaming not wanting to sit on SC's lap, to take her into another room and reveal that Santa that day was actually Dad.
Not good. Made matters worse. Way worse. She screamed louder and it had an effect on all the other kids that day.
It was my last day as a Santa sit-ni...
sorry, Santa "sit-in"...
Amen! This should be required reading at the holidays, for parents of infants and toddlers. My daughter tried to propel herself off of a stage at the mall - AFTER rocketing off Santa's lap and CRAWLING to the edge. I wasn't forcing the issue - I just couldn't get TO her fast enough. My son loved Santa. Daughter...not so much. And forcing the issue seems pointless and cruel, to me. Now, when she got a little bit older, if I told her it was just a stand-in for Santa - some poor man dressed up in a Santa suit who might cry if small children screamed in fear, THEN she was fine with it.
Tag your it, if you want to join the new book meme. For instructions see my Feb 1 post.
Um....are you doing this any more? December was many moons ago...
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