Mall Santa Madness

A visit to the Mall Santa once meant lining up and dragging your kids - as they kicked and screamed - to see the Jolly Old Elf, and waiting while they sniffled through a five-minute visit. Then away you went. Today it seems to be all about the photos and not about the visit. Happy elves explain various ways to take away your money for this "memory-in-the-making moment" as you wait forever with children who start out looking great in their Christmas best, but by the time they reach Santa, are hot and sweaty in their now-stretched holiday sweaters. And you? You're shrieking at your kids to SMILE as the photographer waves bells to get their fixed grimace of fear for the money shot with Saint Nick.

We did this for eight years and two and a half kids. I say half because we managed to get the youngest to go along with our Santa photo plans for her FIRST Christmas. Then her suspicions about this strange man surfaced. She seemed very happy for the gifts that he brought, but the whole meeting face-to-face? Not so much. Her older sister was the same, to a point. She was okay with meeting the Mall Santa, but the whole this strange dude comes into my house terrified her. Now at age eight, she remains dubious, but faithfully writes her letters to him. Needless to say, last year, we didn't do the Santa photo. Funnily enough, the kids were not that bothered about this break in our traditions.This brings me to my point: WHY DO WE DO THESE THINGS? I know why I did. The Santa photo was the easy, once-a-year way to fulfill the obligation of posed awkward pictures. Like many parents who stood in line with their kids, we dressed them up in their seasonal best. This was their one moment of looking nice for almost the entire year. This was a big deal to people like their grandmother. Did my kids care? No. We had already said that Mall Santa worked for the real guy, so why should they put in the effort? I really think they are more than happy to skip that whole part of the holidays. Every year, we discuss what seasonal activities to do with the kids, when in all honesty, the most important ones are set in place anyway. We have the school concert, the visit with their uncle and cousin, and then there is the big day itself. That is all the kids look forward to. When it comes to spending extra money and adding extra stress, we really need to look back on what was special to us as kids - what we remember - and what our kids genuinely get excited about. Those are the memories, not the stilted photos with the fake Santas. I have a feeling we will skip the Mall Santa again this year, and will need to find our photographic memories in less formal settings, like our living room, around the tree, in our pajamas.

Kerry Sauriol is the Vancouver mom behind the blog, Crunchy Carpets. She has three children and sundry pets, and tries to balance it all while keeping her sanity. Her blog focuses on the juggling act called parenting - in her case, the act of juggling a preschooler, two burgeoning "tweens" and keeping everyone out of therapy when they're older.