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Sara Schones
The Schones triplets from Minneapolis were not impressed by Santa.
Did your holiday trip to the mall traumatize your little one? You're not alone!
Countless families took their little ones to meet Santa this Christmas season. When their kids pouted, cried and screamed, parents who were saddened (and — let's be honest — entertained) by their kids’ reactions thankfully knew to reach for the camera.
Monica Spencer
We asked moms and dads earlier this month to capture their tots’ traumatic encounters with Saint Nick. Must-share candids immediately came pouring in. Here, we feature the best — of the worst — moments of children taking their traumatizing turns on Santa’s lap.
Have a scroll below and let us know: which are your favorites? Perhaps the babies with quivering lips or maybe the cut-and-run toddlers? Click on the "vote" button on your favorite photo in the gallery below (you can click on the photos to enlarge them).
Christy Bailey
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Are you kidding me? None of these deserve to win anything. To traumatize a child for a picture is heartless to both the children and the Santa (no matter how accomodating). It makes me sick.
Right..... those kids should just sit at home and not experience anything in life.
They look like trailer trash.
I totally agree, nikki1967. Some of the little ones in these photos aren't just a little scared or "out of their comfort zone", from the looks on their faces and their behavior, they're absolutely terrified. Why some parents put their children through this, I'll never understand.
You think this is traumatizing? Wait until they've learned they've been lied to for years....but don't worry. They'll get even. They'll perpetrate the same lie, and force the same photo op on their children. It's sick.
Why lie to a kid? My kids know Santa as a great Christmas story-- they wave to "him" with excitement as the firetruck goes by every year as "he" makes his round through the neighborhood....but know he's just an average Joe in a suit.
I don't know-- I don't get it. Why lie? Why force this scary experience on a kid....those pictures break my heart.
nikki1967 - Agreed whole heartedly!
I remember being terrified of Santa when I was little. And then mom took me to another Santa and I was terrified again. The only difference in the 2nd trip was that it was my father and I didn't know it.
Not one of my pleasant memories of Christmas.
Are you serious? The kids will GET OVER IT!! Let them experience things that may not make them happy! You bubble wrap them all the time, they grow up as adults not knowing how to handle certain situations and then they go nuts, or worse! I was terrified of waitresses at these kid's ages, but I got over it! And let kids have fun believing in Santa, they will eventually learn he does not exist,but I believe he did a long time ago, as St. Nickolaus, in Germany. It is a German story. Kids grow up way too fast! My parents made believe Santa existed til I was like 9 or 10, I knew it was our neighbor dressing up as Santa by then! :)
Why do parents insist on having these stupid photos? It is appalling.
Disgusting, horrible, appalling, and much, much more! Children can have many, many experiences that enrich their lives without the "trauma" this article referred to so cheerfully. Wrong, wrong, wrong. What happened to the season of Love, Peace, and Joy? Many of us have spent the last week grieving over the final moments of other dear children. Why impose fear and tears on children these parents supposedly love?
OMG! They might need a shrink cause of this!! Get out the meds!
They will love that picture when they get older [if they have a sense of humor...lol
Most seem too young to have wanted to see, let alone sit on Santa's lap. Some of those Santa's are sort of scary and creepy looking. No wonder these kids were scared to death!
Sick.
Well, I am go AGAINST the grain here and say that I(and I know plenty of other people too)had a few pics like this as a kid w/Santa, Easter bunny, Chuck-E-Cheese,etc... and I am hardly "traumatized" from the incidents-lol. I look at those old pics now and just laugh. My children laugh at them as well as they do their own similiar pics. If this kind of thing is "abuse" that is going to "traumatize" a child, then I'd hate to see how they'll deal with real crisis throughout their lives.(for most of us, life doesn't get easier.).
Why does everything in this country have to constitute "trauma" or "abuse" nowadays? Seriously, it's a picture with Santa Claus people!
Thank you for a voice of reason. Now days if you don't breast feed your child, have them strapped to you every second they're awake, and sleep with them you're an "evil" mother. Let's have a reality check people - I'm sure the parents grabbed their children as soon as they realized the picture wasn't going to work. People act like these parents plotted all day - "Let's traumatize our child for life, put them on Santa's lap and pretend like we're leaving, and then take a picture to document their terrified screams. Muhahaha . ."
Your children laugh at them now, because they're old enough to understand what the picture was. It's pretty tough for little ones less than 2-3 years old to figure that out. Scared is scared - period.
And, dreamnofnyc, if the parents grabbed their children as soon as they realized they were scared, how the hell did the pictures get taken? Let's be honest here, they let their children scream their heads off because THEY wanted the stupid picture; their children had no say in the matter.
I remember not believing that any department store Santa was the real deal - I went, sat on his (fake, in my view) lap, smiled for the photo, mouthed my Christmas wish like a robot, and beat it, all with an efficiency in a young kid that spooked my parents. I even ran away from one Santa while he was still talking to me - I still believed in Santa, but I didn't buy it that he would be in my hometown!
@Amused Muse,
The first Santa I was ever taken to see happened to be my dad (who was a huge dude). My mom put me on his lap and he went into his Santa rap---"Ho, ho, ho! Well, have you been a good little boy this year?" and all that.
I recognized his wrist watch and tried to tell the other kids in perfect Little Snitch fashion, "Hey! This isn't the real Santa, it's my daddy!" They realized where I was going, slapped a bag of plastic soldiers in my hand and basically launched me out of the room before I could ruin the whole thing for everybody.
This was 1967, which would made me about 5----and totally convinced that my father was involved in some kind of a Santa-based plot, where all the other Santas on earth were impostors.
My mom still laughs about this...when she's not wiping away cold sweat from the memory of me tying a bath towel around my neck with every intention of jumping off the roof of the house. But hey, Superman had a cape, so why not me? Besides, all parents need to have one certifiable kid running about doin' dumb stuff, right?
LMAO! Merry Christmas!
LOL!
I have a similar reaction at the dentist.
Now, THAT is tramatizing! Even as an adult! I hate dentists! They cause too much pain,lol!
Ok Sweetie, see that strange, bearded man in a red velour jumpsuit? I want you to go sit on his lap and let him hold you there until that other stranger takes a picture of you! Have fun, I'll just be over here...
After the Newtown shooting, I'd be afraid that a violent psychopath might pose as Santa in order to target kids. Via gun shows and private sales, even criminals disguised as St. Nick can easily purchase firearms with no ID or questions asked. Unfortunately, the NRA has done everything it can to prevent this loophole from closing. I guess it will take a Newtown-style massacre to open people's eyes to this.
Paranoid much?
Those poor kids. My 1 year old was fine with Santa but I know as he gets to be 2 or 3 he might feel different so I won't ever force him but I gotta wonder why bother forcing Santa on a kid who doesn't want to sit on his lap? Always good to do a test run and then decide.
Reminds me of this horrific quote in relation to that.
"Your screams will only fuel my erections!"
Have any of you ever seen a toddler completely lose their mind (just like the above pictures) when you don't give them something they want? Toddlers display extreme emotions 500 times a day. They also get over it just as quickly. Nobody seriously ends up scarred for life from something like this. The pictures are hilarious!
Some of you need to relax and get down from your high horse.
U are a complete idiot
I agree with Araney, kids cry and freak out at the most unusual things! I Know I did! And I look back and laugh!
Freaking lowlife parents.....don't they realize those babies never forget the trama....no wonder society is so F**ked up
Awesome! I posted this and then voted myself up immediately, and it's TOTALLY NOT OBVIOUS!
Oh my ...so many opinions, it truly scares me at the thought of where this country and human kind is headed.
God Bless you all...and of course
Merry Christmas