"No! No Santa!"

While at the mall today, I was showing Jackson all the Christmas trees and lights - reminding him of the things to come. I was surprised to see that Santa was already there and waiting for children to take their over-priced pictures with him. No pictures were being taken while we were there - go figure. It is still November, after all.

I thought Jackson would be excited to see Santa, so I pointed at the man in red, while we were approaching in the stroller. Jackson immediately had a panic face and flung his arms at me saying, "No! No Santa!". So, I rescued him from the perils of evil and we strolled off in the other direction. I asked him if he was scared of Santa, and he just nodded.

I had forgotten our experience with Santa last year... we met Stacy & Nate at the mall. Jackson was dressed all cute. We heard that they would allow moms to take one picture with Santa WITH THEIR OWN CAMERA - so, Stac & I were up to that bargain. Jack had been talking about Santa for weeks. (Actually, he kept calling him Noah - they look similar in our story books). We had seen him at the mall from a distance and waved and smiled. I thought this would be a treasured memory for him, er.. Okay. For me. Our turn came, and I walked Jackson up to Old St. Nick and HE TOTALLY FREAKED OUT. Loud screams and calls for "Mommy!" followed. Needless to say, no pictures were taken.

It is amusing to me that my boy, who shows no fear of ANYTHING - not Halloween masks, giant mascots, clowns, BUGS, or strangers - is terrified of Santa Claus. Oh, and green vegetables. Go figure.