Not so merry ...

Was this really necessary?

Ah, it's that time of year. Snowy mornings, hot cider, candy canes, Christmas carols. And, small, terrified children. All year long we want them to stay away from strangers. Then all of the sudden we throw them into a stranger's lap and try to take pictures.

I have three children and at least a dozen "with Santa" pictures of them. Every single one of them contains at least one small child of mine who is usually screaming, but at the very least horrified. ... Mortified even. I'm thinking particularly of one year when my daughter (eldest child, and only at that time) went to see Santa. She didn't cry, but she was so obviously, incredibly uncomfortable. Like she wasn't sure yet if we were leaving her with the obese, red-suited freak or not.

But, there's a happy ending. They all got over it.