Last Christmas, we waited over an hour in line with Grandma to see Alyssa meet Santa. She was so excited! She kept pointing at him, jumping up and down, and saying, "There's Santa!" When it was her turn to see Santa, she flopped on the floor kicking and screaming. Talk about an embarrassing moment! She refused to even get close to him and we ended up leaving without a Santa picture.
Santa was visiting early this year. Last weekend, he was already at the mall for pictures. There was no line, so we thought we'd ask Alyssa if she would like to see Santa. Of course, she said yes and got all excited when she saw him. However, when we approached him she clung to me and refused to get near him. Santa's helper was really nice and let us stand there and look at him, but no matter how much I tried she didn't want to go near him. We managed to ask for a dolly and give a "high five," but that's about it. I could have left at that point, but it was important for me for Alyssa to overcome her fear. There was nothing to be afraid of, yet I knew she was scared to death. At Halloween time, she walked up to a life size doll of Hannibal Lector and wasn't afraid at all. It took about 45 minutes and she agreed to see him as long as I went with. As you can see from the photo, we sat next to Santa and not on his lap. He did ask me if I wanted to sit on his lap which I thought was a bit creepy.
It's not uncommon for children to be afraid of Santa Claus. He's a strange man in a bright red suit with a long beard and big 'ol boots. It's totally normal for children to be fearful of someone or something. We made several trips to look at him without the pressure to be near him. I think that helped her see that he wasn't going to hurt her. I explained that we were just going to tell him that she wants a dolly for Christmas and take a quick picture. I volunteered to sit with her to help ease her fear and she agreed. We took a few pictures and she said to Santa, "I want a dolly, a soccer ball, and sparkly lipstick."
Since then, Alyssa has taken her Santa picture to school with her twice. She says she wants to go see him again. If we're at the mall and there's no line, I may let her go just to see if she really wants to see him or just look at him. Either way, it took a lot of courage to go up there and take the picture. I am so proud of her!
2 comments:
What a good sport for sitting with her. She was so cute. I love these times with her, its an amazing experience. She is so excited about her dolly and soccer ball.
She was very cute! I loved listening to her tell Santa she wanted the dolly, soccer ball, and sparkly lipstick. I think this is going to be a great Christmas this year. I can't wait to see how she acts when she sees that Santa was there. That's the joy of Christmas!
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