It's Christmas Eve, and nothing says Christmas like Santa Claus. And nothing says Christmas quite as much as the terrified reactions of some little children when they see Santa Claus and realize that they're Scared of Santa.
There are lots more where these two pictures came from here, here, and here.
Merry Christmas!
LOVE the pics!! We should give kids more credit - we repeatedly tell them not to talk to strangers, and then want them to make nice with the guy in the weird costume.
Happy Holidays, Orac. I enjoy your blog.
Linda
Santa is creepy, just like clowns are. Santa is worse, though, since he lands a sled on your roof, and basically invades your house in the middle of the night. That was a scary concept for a kid growing up in a large, gun-happy US city.
Don't get me started on the sweatshop labor with the elves....
Happy Day After Winter Solstice, Orac!
Santa Claus is the world's most inveterate home-invader, and parents claim they can't see a problem?
To a little kid, grownups are scary enough when they don't hide their faces, so when they do hide their faces, you have to assume they're up to more no-good than usual.
Of course they're afraid of Santa. Santa Claus - the real one not the modern confection - comes down the chimney and takes naughty children away in his sack. Good children too, he's not fussy.
If you stay very quiet, you can hear him moving about on the roof.
If you stay very, very quiet, he might not hear you.
Gav said "Of course they're afraid of Santa. Santa Claus - the real one not the modern confection - comes down the chimney and takes naughty children away in his sack. Good children too, he's not fussy."
I thought that was Swarte Piet (Black Pete), the Moorish servent of Sinterklaas. Who came with Sinterklaas from Spain and while Sinterklaas fills the shoes with goodies, Swarte Piet beat the naughty children.
Don't talk to strangers. Don't let strangers touch you.
Now go give Santa a hug, sit on his lap and talk to him while I stand over there...
But if kids are afraid of Santa, wait till they get a load of the Krampus.
Our son enjoyed Christmases up till he was four - then, a few days before Christmas, he suddenly realised that Father Christmas was this big stranger who was going to creep into his bedroom in the middle of the night.
So we had to explain to him that it wouldn't be a stranger, only his Dad, and that Father Christmas was just a story..... He enjoyed Christmas after that.
I just want to say "thank you" to my dear departed mother for never even suggesting that I go see Santa.