This?
As parents we take our kids to the malls and stand in long lines to see if maybe this year we can get that cute photo of our little one sitting on Santa's knee. So many kids are scared to death of Santa. Think about it, here is they very large man with a very furry face, you have no idea who he is but your mom hands you over to him. So not only has she blithely given you to some stranger, he gets right in your face and says "Ho ho ho". I think I'd be a bit scared too.
Here's another scenario: We get in the car with the rest of our family and are off to see our relatives. Of course as very little children, we don't really understand what that means. We get to a house we've never been to before (remember that we have short memories at this young age) and there are HUNDREDS of people that we don't know (ok, maybe not hundreds but remember that we are very small and they are very very tall). And our parents wonder why we want to hide in the closet or under the table or behind them in the chair. It can be so very overwhelming.
I recieved a link in my email to an article written by Linda Acredolo, Ph.D. Co-founder, the Baby Signs® Program and Professor Emeritus, UC Davis. It has some pretty good advice and ideas for us as parents to help our kids make it through the holiday season with everyone's sanity still intact.
