Visiting Santa

[RhymingRabbit3]

AIBU to think that attractions/garden centres etc. with a "visit Santa" event should make more effort to provide a gift which children would actually want?

We paid £13 for my daughter (aged 2) to visit Santa nearby, sit on his lap, get a gift etc. The gift she was given was a poor quality book and a memory card game with TV characters we have never heard of. This will certainly be in the charity bag next year.

AIBU to say I would rather pay more and have a decent gift e.g. characters that most kids actually know? Or pay less and just have a small gift e.g. chocolate
Or pay less and provide your own gift, so that the child gets something they really want.

Has anyone found with older children that this makes them question the reality of Santa because "why would Santa get me this thing I have no interest in?" Or am I overthinking it

Honestly I dont know why people do this . People wont even let their brother in law babysit suddenly taking children to go sit on some strange mans lap or stand next to a bloke who's face you cant even see for photo opportunities. What other occasion wouod anyone do this?

Because its Christmas and visiting Santa is a tradition.

Children aren't generally left alone or unsupervised with Santa in the same way as they would be with a babysitter. The child being left alone/unsupervised is why people tend to use babysitters they trust and I wouldn't automatically presume someone is a good babysitter purely because they are family, i have family members I wouldn't leave my DC with.

Your post is bizarre.

In my opinion Santa experiences at garden centres are merely a way for them to generate revenue during a time when people would normally not buy much from them. We don't bother anymore.

Supervised or not it's a strange tradition where once a year its apparently fine to tell kids it's ok to talk to people when you cant see their faces and override any feelings of uncertainty because its "tradition"

Dont talk to strangers except santa. Santa is ok. Tell santa your name and what school you go to or whatever .

Santa may be a tradition in the sense you tell your kids all about him. All these meet and greets though are just money making schemes and random blokes you have never met in badly fitting santa suits.

I've taken my kids to see santa at large nationwide Garden centre and for £13, you get a lego or playmobil toy, age appropriate, or for younger kids wooden toys.
Last year my dd1 got a lego elves set which was selling in shops for £20, dd2 got a playmobil princess set £17 in shops and nephew got a lovely wooden train. Well worth the money.
And Santa was lovely too

Heritage steam train santa specials are usually far better value for money. We took our DS for several years to different railways. Never disappointed. Gifts were always tailored to age/sex and were usually pretty good. Adults got a glass of wine and mince pie. Usually plenty of entertainment (carol singing, brass band, magicians, etc), and of course the atmosphere of a steam train ride with decorated stations etc. It was more of a proper day out experience than just standing in a queue for a few minutes with Santa.

Ours is more pay for the experience than the present.. it’s a beautiful grotto with a little walk through bit filled with lights and decorations to look like reindeer n trees outside then a fake cabin front to go through to see Santa. Who is actually an older gent with a real beard.. not a 30year old with a polyester wig on his chin.

Elf photography who goes click mad if you have a baby so you definitely get one of the little bugger looking... talking to you ds who kept rubbing baby group Santa’s lap...

Presents vary by age somewhat but the littles get a plush toy. Which to us is much better than chocolate.

Chocolates an allergy risk for a fair few kids (some have risk of trace nuts and most are dairy) so it’d be worse to have to tell your kid that they can’t have Santa’s gift at all than have a bit of tat for them to mess with for a bit.

Children aren't generally left alone or unsupervised with Santa in the same way as they would be with a babysitter.

Exactly. The parent is there to supervise. There are usually elves helping out too. It's a long way from being left alone with creepy uncle George!

A helpful elf said to my kids yesterday "play canny, it's from China" when they were opening their toy cars. Which was honest, at least.

It was a piece of plastic crap and it will be lucky if they get to Xmas without breaking them. The kids were super excited regardless though, and it was the experience i paid for really.

So I'd prefer it wasn't plastic crap from China, but you can't expect too much from these places, I don't think.

Fgs its not about whether they are supervised or not. It's the message you send them.

Has no one ever seen any kids crying in the queues who really clearly dont wanna do it, or kids who suddenly wont let go of their mum being made to pose for the photo with santa ir the elves or whatever.

In that moment the need if the parents for some magical moments of tradition overrides the childs feelings and maybe next time it is creepy uncle george they have to talk too or sit next to fir the family photo

I would never have expected them to get something they want! Although to be fair my son did this year, which was a toy fire engine. We used to get chocolate or a pack of pens when I was little (sounds a bit “in my day” of me!) but we knew it wasn’t the proper present for Xmas, just a token. Surely hats fine?

Dont talk to strangers except santa. Santa is ok

I don't teach my children not to talk to strangers. Strangers are not inherently dangerous or sinister and there will times where they have to speak to strangers. There are also strangers who are helpful to us like police officers or shop assistants and whom they may need to seek help from, why would I want them to not speak to those people? And statistically they are far more likely to be abused or harmed by someone they know as harm/abuse requires both access and opportunity oh hello creepy Uncle George something which is highly unlikely to happen in the two minutes they are with Santa under the watchful eye of their parent(s), Santa's helpers, and the queue of people waiting behind.

I teach my children about Tricky People instead, far more useful.

Has no one ever seen any kids crying in the queues who really clearly dont wanna do it, or kids who suddenly wont let go of their mum being made to pose for the photo with santa ir the elves or whatever.

I have literally never seen this. I have seen children grumping in the queue but children generally don't like queues. I have never seen anyone forcing their child to sit with Santa for a photo, who wants a photo of a screaming child?

I know statistically its usually someone they know. that's not the point the point is that kids learning to override their uncertainty for one thing can have knock on.effects for others . I've seen more photos in face book of kids sat rigidly and not smiling than I have of ones who are closely happy to be there. Xmas is a time where I think peope try far to hard to do all this stuff as they think.its what everyone else is doing it they want to feel like they have really made xmas special and if course theres a million reasons why kids can be grumpy or fractious so they dont automatically link it to what they are doing. (As you just did with the grumping in the queue)

Strip away the red and the snow and what you have is kids being rewarded with a gift for making mummy/daddy/grandma/grandad happy by sitting on a strangers lap for a photo.

Strip away the red and the snow and what you have is kids being rewarded with a gift for making mummy/daddy/grandma/grandad happy by sitting on a strangers lap for a photo.

You're seriously overthinking this.

They don’t sit on Santa’s lap do they? I’ve only ever seen them sit on stools beside Santa in my children’s lifetime (dc1 is 11).

We sat on Santa's knee when I were a lass, but yes, it's generally stools at the side these days as far as I have seen.