i never feel like taking my kids to see Santa. I didnt last year, and don't think I'll get around to doing it this either. I mean, one week away from Christmas? The lines are sure to be horrendous!

Never bothered, never regretted it. We take enough family photos with and without silly Christmas outfits, trees or whatever in the picture to have all the holiday memories we need and then some. My parents had photos with Santa taken once or twice but it was just a spur of the moment thing so it was never a big tradition in our house anyway. My son's family don't bother either and we all tend to cut out as much of the commercial aspect of the holidays as we can. For us it's all about family, friends, food and making good memories without adding stress. I'd rather have a spontaneous photo of my grandkid making a snowman in the yard (if we ever get snow) than a staged Santa photo that you had to line up for. That's just how our family is, other families may get great enjoyment out of the whole process. Either way, don't stress out about it, just make it the best experience you can and enjoy your holiday traditions, whatever they may be.

Considering how many Santa photos end up with the child screaming and upset, I think it's way overrated and stressful. If your kid really loves it, then go for it, but if not just save yourself the hassle.

Our local department store also did pics at Easter with a giant bunny! Also, at Christmas during the eaerly 60s you had the option of having you pic taken while posing in a Mercury or Gemini space capsule (fake, of course!) -- this pics are so worth it many years down the line, so don't be a scrooge with your kids!

I don't have children but I was shy and leery of adult strangers as a kid. There was no way my mother could have gotten me to sit on a strange man's lap no matter what the costume/occasion without a total freak out. They were nice to look at but I left it at that. I remember being asked once and she didn't bother again.

If your kids aren't the skittish types I think it's cute and totally worth it. If they are old enough to ask their opinion, I surely wouldn't force the issue if they say no. Maybe a bribe, though, if their not scared and just don't want to do it. :) They will most likely have fun seeing the photos again one day.

Just look at the picture on this post for your answer: the kid looks miserable and it's not even a nice photo. Totally not worth it, and in fact, given the horrible-ness of malls and waiting in lines, you're probably creating a bad memory. I remember waiting in an endless line at Macy's NYC with my mother. I don't remember seeing Santa or caring. I remember standing in that effing line what felt like the entire day for a non-event at the end.

Go ice skating or for a walk in the woods --- both of those would provide actual fun and opportunities for nice photos.

Call me Scrooge, but why would you want a photo of your child sitting on a strange man's lap? Even as a child this always seemed creepy to me.

My parents never made us go to the mall Santa, but I do remember going to an annual Christmas party every year that had a Santa. We did pictures there and the Santa had a gift for every kid (that I'm sure the parents supplied).

There exists a great picture of my niece freaking out on Santa's lap at an event at her preschool. The punchline is that Santa is my brother -- her dad.

Our town has something called Santa's village. It's free and there are many houses and things for the kids to do while my husband waits in line for Santa. I get a text from him when he's about five minutes from the door to Santa's house. The picture is a digital image they send you and is free. It's totally been worth it to have a picture of them with Santa (same guy for the last 6 years) but I am looking forward to the day we don't have to go through this ritual.

Not a tradition in our family. My girls know that mall Santas aren't the real deal and have no desire to go sit on the "pretend" Santa's lap. I never wanted to as a child either. That being said, it's fun for some kids and a big tradition for some families.

My parents have maybe one or two pictures like this, mostly from company Christmas parties. I'm crying or uncomfortable in them, but my parents think they're hysterical because the Santa was a friend of theirs who I like otherwise.

Eh, if your four or five year old expresses interest, sure. Otherwise, I don't think it really matters.

My Dad has played Santa since I was a little kid. Now, my girls happily see their Gabba and take wonderful photos. It's great to see my girls and Dad in these photos.

No it's not necessary and it's silly to set a child on a strange mans lap and ask for gifts. Silly. Much more important things should be taking place in the childs life.The whole santa thing is just rediculious. So, this is what xmass is about.

As a kid, I was forced to do it once; that picture up there could be me -- I never believed in Santa, and loathed the idea of sitting on the knee of some unconvincing stranger's knee (if he'd had a real beard and real velvet and fur, I may have been swayed).

My kids have had their pictures taken with Santas, but not Mall Santas -- Santas at private Christmas parties. My son cried the first year and has been suspicious since, and my daughter struck the same dubious pose I did -- and then told me -- "That's a fake Santa Mommy". So, not a rousing success in my house.

(I've checked, and my mother in law doesn't have a single picture of any of the kids with Santa, so I guess we both have a similar familial leeriness of it...)

My child (now 6) would never go near Santa. Once referred to him as Santa Claws. He's terrified of sitting on a strange man's lap and I'm perfectly ok with that.

We have a toddler and baby, and have only done this at the office christmas party. I also don't see myself putting in the effort to get so-so pictures.

On the other hand, it is nice to have at least one photo with Santa for the kids' album...doesn't need to be taken every year.

I've done it sporadically, when the kids wanted to, and it can be a fun thing if everyone is into it. But the prices for the photo have gone up and up -- at a time of year when I already overspend a little the Santa photo met the budget cut ax. You can always visit Santa and not have the photo taken, you know. I've ended up glad that, because I did it sporadically and not every year without fail, it is not yet another "Christmas tradition" that started as fun and ended as crushing obligation.

That said, I just visited a friend who has a shot from every single year of her children's lives. The grouping of 16 photos, first just her son, then both son and daughter, makes up her major Christmas decoration. It is charming, and for her the trouble is worth it. Her son asked "how much longer do I have to do this?" and she told him "as long as you live here!" I hope he will continue longer than that since it is so meaningful to her. He won't appreciate until he is older how great it is to know an easy, mom-pleasing Christmas gift that needs to be redone every year!

When I was young, we didn't do this. When I was a parent with my first,she started crying after being on the Santa line too long so we tried again later with the Easter Bunny. She did not smile and couldn't wait to leave. After that I let my child tell me what she wanted to do. She liked waving from a distance until Santa/the Bunny waved back. That was all she needed. My next child wanted to go up to Santa and the Bunny but, she just wanted to look at them. She wouldn't even say, "Hello." Fine by me.

At our mall you don't have to pay for a photo--you can take your own if you wish.

If you kids get excited about it and ask to go, then sure, go for it! If they don't care, are too young to care, or just plain freaked out by strangers then don't bother with it. If the grandparents would love seeing their grandkids pics with Santa then try and get them to wait in line while you enjoy some kid-free shopping time :)

I don't remember it ever being huge deal in my family. Personally I liked the sets way more than Santa! This is the time of year for businesses to go nuts with the decorating (M&I Bank in Milwaukee always did spectacular displays with stuffed animals and Macy's usually does some pretty awesome stuff). I think these are way more fun than going to sit in Santa's lap for a photo. Plus, if you think waiting in line is tedious and boring, how do you think little kids feel?

Why don't you play Santa for your kids?

No.

I don't advocate the Christmas lie. When they find out, it will feel like the death of a real friend! But I suggest treating Santa like any other fictional character such as Batman or Spiderman.

If you are running the Christmas con on your children, it is important to partake in the Santa-picture ordeal as well. There are places where you can make an appointment to take pictures. It is more expensive, but it is worth it depending on how much you value your time. On the other hand, if you are not lying to your kids. You can still bring them to see him, like you would see Mickey Mouse at Disneyland.

In reality, the Santa-picture is really for the parents. It's the "aw! so cute!" If you are cool with not having it, it's totally fine. Your kids are not going to turn out horribly just because they didn't get this one picture.

I have pictures of me over the years going to see Santa. A nice experience, but even I remember the long lines and think what a hassle that had to be for my mom. A friend of ours asked when we were going to take our almost one year old son and at that point it had not occurred to me as being something I HAD to do. I don't think I would do it until he understood what Santa was about and then only if he wanted to. I think if your kids want to fine, but if not, no reason to force it on them.

Let the child decide.
I only have 1 picture of myself on Santa's lap when I was 8. I took that picture and made it into Christmas cards about 20 years ago and everyone loved it. I'm glad I have that 1 picture but I wouldn't need one each year. It really is up to the kids. If it's an expense thing, I would suggest not to bring the kids to the malls during this time of year. Your children might like the memory of at least one picture with Santa, Easter Bunny, who ever...

We always had ours done at my dad's corporate Christmas party. They always had really nice, educational gifts for the kids (it was a large medical R&D company) that I looked forward to, but you had to get them from Santa. The whole experience kind of delighted and terrified me. But I think the awkward, uncomfortable Santa photos are just as priceless (if not more so) than the ones that go as planned.

We do it, but we go to a store that offers free pictures. We have only waited 10 minutes tops.

Also, several of the branches in my library system (where I work) are doing free Santa photos. We are processing them into nice "cards" that we are posting on Flickr. The comments we've heard back is that people are grateful for the free pictures.

I have only been a parent a short time and have two small children ages almost-three and just-turned-one. For me, the Santa photos are worth it. We go and see the same Santa every year (this was our third year), and we always time it so that we have yet to stand in any sort of line. If you don't go at prime times, there won't be a line. This year we went on a Tuesday evening. It's nice to be able to compare photos, as this is our first year with two children in it - last year, the youngest was much too young. I love my photos, but I'm not handing my tiny infant to a stranger, so even though my youngest was around last year, he's not pictured. The $$ is a little steep, but my husband and I consider this part of my Christmas gift. I think for my older son, the Santa concept is sinking in a little now, and so to have the continuity of this same Santa every year makes it a happy experience for him. He enjoys it. And hey, this is a pretty darn convincing Santa. Real beard, lots of flowing dark red and white and green. It's not a tacky bright red fake beard Santa...so I'll take it. Point being, it'snot something I carry on for any other reason than that I enjoy it, and my son enjoys it, and I loved it as a child. And when my children have outgrown it, I will respect that, but in the meantime...it's just one more photo op for my kids. In my opinion, I can never have too many photos of my beautiful little boys. :)

I have no problem with taking a picture with Santa...what I DO object to is waiting in a long line with small children and paying a huge amount of money for one photo. We'll get our first pic with Santa this year at a preschool event, though knowing my kid, he will NOT want to go anywhere near Santa. :)

We always visited the nursing home were my Grandma lived for our Santa photos as a kid. Residents there would dress up as Santa and Mrs. Claus every year. It was always a special time filled with family and friends of the nursing home (it was a rather small tight community there), and looking back I'm so happy my Mom dragged us every year. I don't have kids of my own yet, but I'm not sure how I feel about going to the mall for the Santa photos. It just wouldn't have the same feel I got to experience as a child.

I never did it as a child that I can remember, and neither did my sisters. Of course, we were all told from a young age (around five or six years old) that Santa was just pretend. Perhaps that's why I didn't care about it and just sort of feel awkward around mall Santas now. I also know one reason that my Mom wasn't that into it because she had such a bad backlog of family photos stored in boxes that she just didn't want to get any more. (Many of them are still in storage.)

Our mall had a fast pass you could purchase in advance and skip the line. The whole process took less than 20 minutes. Totally worth it. My daughter is only one, and obviously had no choice, but she took to the strange fat man in the suit like she does everyone else. They were instantly best friends. Santa is magical. People need magic.

We did have ours taken with Santa but every other year or so - I put a stop at 12... My parent's asked me to take my brother down who was 6 and he sat on Santa's lap, Santa was a bit too leary with me telling me "You look lovely..." while checking me out, I always looked a bit older for my age but it was just wrong! lol So no more Santa pictures for me...

There is a whole lot of Bah Humbug in these comments! It's totally fun even if the wait is long and whether the photo turns out good or bad(I like the bad ones better anyway) it's still totally worth it in my book. When my children are adults they can look back and laugh at all the silly santas and funny outfits I put them in. I have an old B&W picture of my mom and uncle on Santa's lap from the 50's that I cherish and will have forever. This is a tradition I love and hope my children will continue to pass on.

I have no memory of ever sitting on Santa's lap. I have no memory of ever seeing a photo of me on Santa's lap as a child. I really don't care if my child ever sits on Santa's lap. He's little now. If he expresses an interest in it when he gets older, sure, but this is not going to be one of our annual traditions.

My mom never did it with us (nor did my MIL) and one of the few pictures we have with Santa, my sisters and I are teens. It is not something we have to do. I took the 22-month-old to sit on Santa's lap last year--got a *fabulous* screaming Santa picture (Santa and baby were both crying. It. Is. Awesome.) I've got it tucked away for when he is older and can appreciate it but as he has a healthy distrust of men with beards (didn't want to go near his Grandpa who was sporting a full beard at Thanksgiving or our neighbor whom he loves), it isn't something that I insist upon doing. Maybe when he's older and it is his idea.

We have an event in our town where Santa and his elves sets up shop. There are activities and reindeer for the kids and free hot chocolate. The kids and parents wait in line to take a free photo with Santa. It's less about Santa for us than it is about the yearly experience of going to this festival which they look forward to every year!

You get such a tiny window of time in a child's life to believe in Santa. Soon enough they will be jaded angry adults complaining about their lack of iPods and grumbling over having to wade through malls to get gifts etc. Let them have this small moment in time. I'd love to go back and still believe in that kind of Christmas magic.

It isn't a necessity but if children want to do it, why not? I once took my dog to have her picture with Santa at the local Petsmart!! LOL. There were dogs, a few cats(!), and a ferret or two waiting for pictures with Santa.

Well AT you have sunk to a new low allowing a contributor to use the site to vent their parental angst on the rest of us.

When I was young I think I did one Santa photo and my kids have both had one or two. I think that's fine. I don't think it needs to be an every year thing. My kids don't ask for it, so I figure why deal with all the drama of it.

And to the annoying comments who don't want to deal with these types of posts, then don't read them! Pretty simple.

We love it. My children do too. For my twins' first Christmas, Santa held each one in an arm and the babies reached across his beard and held hands. It totally looks posed, but it wasn't. Each year, we put a wallet sized photo of the children with Santa in little frames on the tree. The kids get excited about looking through all the old photos with Santa. They've only started to get a little skeptical and wonder why Santa looks different each year. My youngest (4) concluded that he (himself) looks much different than the year before, so that is why Santa does. ha! I've done it since they were babies and hope they humor me with these photos for a long, long time.

If it's a tradition you connect with, I don't see why not. To me it's not particularly meaningful. I'd much rather have informal pics of the kids at Christmas events enjoying them. Maybe a posed one in front of the tree or something like that.

Agree with Jaqi, photos with a stranger wearing head to toe red velvet? No thanks. I also object to the pressure to buy photos, if my daughter wants to see Santa and there is no line at my local centre then I have no problem with that but I always say up front that we don't want a photo, my child would just like to chat to Santa.

We were wondering the same thing. Our toddler loves strangers, so he probably wouldn't mind. But we plan to skip the Santa photo hoopla. I have only a couple photos of me with Santa and I wasn't all that thrilled in them. I remember Santa having bad breath and saying something stereotypical about what I'd want for Christmas.

However, for other families it is a special tradition! So, if you are doing it because you feel obligated but no one in the family is into it, maybe skip the line and lessen the wait for those who really want to.

I'm all over this tradition! My parents made ornaments out of all of the pictures they collected of me and Santa over the years and it is great fun to look at them every year on the Christmas tree (even the pictures of me screaming or looking unsure of the entire thing). My oldest daughter loves looking at them as well and it is something I would love to continue for both my girls.

With that being said, we don't live in a big city...but rather a rural Alaskan "village" in the middle of nowhere, so we never have to contend with 100s of other kids every year.

Overall, I love the tradition and hope it continues in our family. How sweet would it be to have generations of our family with Santa on a Christmas tree 100 years from now?? Ha! In my wildest dreams...

Santa appeared at our preschool's holiday concert. My daughter wanted nothing to do with him until she saw that he was handing out candy canes (her favorite!). He received a polite handshake in return.

She enjoys believing in Santa, reading books about Santa, etc -- she would just rather appreciate him from a safe distance, and I'm OK with that.

I don't think there is any thing more to add; but I can't resist. I remember sitting on Santa's lap while I was little; but we never bought the photo (I am sure my mom would said because we were too poor). I don't think I realized until I was working at a photo shop in the mall that the photos were the main purpose of the mall Santas. When my daughter was 6 weeks old, I was walking in the mall with a friend who had a 15 month old and she stopped and suggested a photo with Santa. I had the same reaction as the author of the article. And ultimately passed on the photo. My friend said she would get the photos to send to her husband's family in Germany. She told me they don't have Santas like these and would get a kick out of the photo. I didn't take my daughter until the year that her brother was born (she was 4) and we have gone every year since. It always yields a great discussion. Is that Santa or a helper or how can there be so many Santas all over when he's so busy this time of year? There is rarely a line (one of the malls here makes appointments) and I enjoy displaying the photos. It makes me a little wistful that I didn't get my daughter with Santa between 6 weeks and 3 years. Find traditions and pleasures where you can is my advice.

Hello! In Belgium, we have Saint Nicolas. Usually, children have tooo many opportunities to see him. He comes at school and at any extracurricular activity of the children. So yes, at some point there is a picture taken.
I have a 1 year old daughter and I'll avoid Saint Nicolas pictures until she's a least four (I don't want her to be scared). Then I think I'll ask her what she wants. But luckily, we have alternative to malls...

Wow, what a dilemma! If your child is able to voice as to whether he or she wants to visit Santa and you don't have a problem with it do it. As a parent there are so many more important issues to worry about.

I don't have any kids yet but every year my boyfriend and I take our dogs to take pictures with Santa at PetSmart! It's only $10 and they take as many pictures as you want with your own camera (takes a few shots to get one where both dogs look decent lol). This was our third year doing this and for us it's fun and totally worth it. We really don't ever get around to taking any pictures of the four of us (me, him and the dogs) during the year so it's nice to have these pictures every year to look back on :)

I don't have kids, but I remember being scared of the public Santas when I was little (then again, I was pretty shy in general). Nevertheless, I was coaxed into someone's lap every year, but I'm pretty sure it was just to tell him what I wanted, since I can't recall ever seeing those photos in an album; my mom probably didn't want to pay through the nose for a picture of me looking uncomfortable, and I don't blame her. We did, however, get a personal visit from Santa at my grandparents' house every year, and we have yearly photos of everyone on his lap (not all at the same time!). So...if you have a willing party, a halfway-decent red suit might be a better investment :)

Absolutely, I love our annual photos. As your children age, traditions like this are sweet and all the pictures are memories, whether they are crying in them or not. And if you prepare them and go earlier in the year, it's not unbearable at all. It's all what you make of the experience too, not just the Santa or the kid. If you're really not into the Santa thing, take an annual photo of them mailing a letter to Santa or something. Any chance to have a scheduled yearly keepsake and watch those pictures change over time is a treasure.

As someone who cried in literally every Santa picture we have, I'm just going to voice my opinion in that I love looking at my old Santa pictures. Are they perfect, with me looking like an angel? Absolutely not. But they're ridiculously hilarious. I wouldn't pass them up for the world.

This year, at our family work party, there was a Santa, and we continued the tradition of getting a picture of me and my sister crying on Santa's lap... it's a lot more awkward when you're 23 and 26, but still hilarious.

My mom took a wide piece of red velvet ribbon and attached each Santa picture in chronological order to it so we could hang it on our hall closet door. It's one of my favorite pieces of holiday decoration because it shows my brothers and I as we grew and all of the hideous clothing and hair styles that entails.

I also enjoy it because they were both in tears in their early pictures, while I clearly knew from an early age that Santa was awesome. It's also great seeing the same (awesome) Santa show up every few years. I'm definitely in favor of it, and I plan on wrangling my kids when the time comes.

Do you loe the series of Santa photos of you in your childhood? Do you anticipate your child might feel like you do (either pro or con?) If so, that should inform your decision.

Personally -- and I don't have kids, so this is just me -- I think figuring out a personal tradition would be more fun. Like a picture every Christmas with the child in a green t-shirt and a Santa hat, which eventually will show them aging but essentially wearing the "same" thing. Or every year with a snowman. Something. like that...

As a kid I was terrified to sit on Santa's lap. The whole idea just weirded me out and, thankfully, my parents never forced the "obligatory" photo on me or my brother. Do I think my Christmases were somehow less magical because we skipped the mall? Absolutely not! Every family has their own traditions and maybe taking a picture with Santa isn't one of them for you. That's ok. Maybe you'll take a yearly family photo in front of the tree, or do a yearly craft, or bake something special together. The holidays mean millions of things to millions of people and as long as you're into what you're doing with your kids, they'll never miss the mall Santas. And, if they complain later, you can always take them next year.

I hate tradition for the sake of tradition. That's like, walking in a circle for the sake of walking in a circle. It's one thing if you LIKE walking in a circle, but walking in a circle for no other reason than to walk in a circle? That's madness. Or walk in a circle because everyone else is walking in a circle? That's group think.

Something becomes a Christmas tradition when it's worth doing every year because you and your family enjoy it. I wouldn't try to force it- do what you all enjoy. Then, if you want, get a photo of it. As others said, come up with your own tradition, even if that tradition is doing something completely different and new every year. Maybe this year you'll go sledding, next year get Chinese, and in 15 years you'll go bungee jumping in New Zealand. Whatever makes sense for your family- just do that.

As far as Santa- as a kid, I found it embarrassing at worst and unusual at best. As an adult, I feel uncomfortable having kids beg for *stuff*; the "want want want" is not the focus I want to put on Christmas. Some kids and parents love the Santa thing though. It works for them. If it floats your boat, by all means go sail it.

</rant> to be more specific, you'll only know if it's worthwhile if you actually try it :-)

Whoa! Whats with all the negative comments? Visiting Santa shortly before Christmas was the highlight of my holiday when I was a kid! I'm sure it wasn't fun for my mom, but I suppose that is one of the sacrifices you make for your kids.

Our local shopping mall Santa is the centres janitor during the year, every year at Christmas he takes on the roll of Santa and has been doing so for over a decade. He is a lovely man, with real white hair and beard, he always takes to the time to really talk to the kids and make them comfortable. He is wonderful and the kids love it.

I can't imagine bothering unless it's something my kid wants to do at some point. We live in the Netherlands currently and the Sinterklaas tradition doesn't really include this concept, so that's also a factor. But it's not something I particularly remember from my childhood as special or magical, so hardly something I'd want to wait in line for. Decorating cookies and the tree, reading special xmas storybooks, opening our stockings all together, tucked in my parents bed ... those are the kinds of things that I remember loving and plan to do with my family.

ps. I think the idea of regular photos of children as they grow up is great, but I see no particular reason it has to be one of them sitting on Santa's lap, unless that makes it more special for you.

My parents never took me to sit with Santa so I wanted to take my daughter for her first Christmas last year. The picture was really sweet but the mall Santa ended up being arrested earlier this year for soliciting a minor, I'll most likely never take her to sit with Santa again unless Grandpa decides to dress up. It was just too disturbing.

We've never done it with our kids and don't plan to. Honestly, I don't like pictures of crying or scared children on some stranger's lap and don't feel the need to put my kids in a weird situation just for an ironically retro photo opp. I don't encourage my kids to sit on the laps of men they don't know and don't see this exception as worthwhile. I take plenty of other photos during the holidays and the rest of the year to skip the mall lines.

Oh boy - I'm shocked that so many people see this is a major issue. Not every kid cries and screams on Santa's lap. If your kid does, don't put her/him in that situation. If your kid likes Santa, go for it. If not, skip it. But please don't poo-poo those of us who see Santa and his lap as a happy part of a magic-filled, wonder-filled childhood Christmas. And I'll repeat: I completely agree that if your child doesn't want to do it, don't do it. I also don't like pictures if crying or unhappy children.

Meanwhile, on the pro-Santa-picture side: Our daughter was scared of Santa last year and this one, so we decided to skip it. THEN, we went to a mall on an unrelated errand, and she saw Santa sitting there in his comfy green chair... she changed her mind. She wanted to talk to Santa, ask about his elves and reindeer, and give him a hug. Come on - look at this from a child's point of view - he's SANTA!!! We took the picture - my daughter was happy in her breakfast-stained sweater and shoes on the wrong feet. She did not smile, and did have that deer-in-headlights look, but we never left her side, and she knew she was safe. She talks about visiting Santa and looks at the picture of herself at least twice a day. This is a great memory that she will have forever. Go team Santa!

And one more thing - you don't have to go to a mall to see Santa. Photography studios, zoos, children's museums... Santa visits all kinds of places.

My daughter is almost 2 1/2 and she still doesn't have a Santa photo - we were at a Christmas luncheon on Sunday where there was a Santa and an opportunity to take free photos, but she didn't want to do it (although all her cousins did) - I didn't force her. The day she decides or feels comfortable taking a photo with Santa, I'll gladly take her though, just don't see the point in making her cry just to have a Santa photo. On the other hand, it wasn't a tradition in my family to have yearly Santa photos, so it's not such a big deal for me.

What hilary.coco said