Did you hate going to see Santa, too?

I cannot tell you how relieved--relieved!--I am to know my trips to Santa were not the only childhood disasters on record. All of these years, I thought it was just me and my "naughty list" mentality that made the experience of sitting on a stranger's furry knees so harrowing. I was terrified. Always. Between the slipping beard, the glittering eyes and the dirty white gloves, the only thing I ever knew I wanted was to be anywhere else.

So thank you, Sketchy Santas, and the Flickr stream-turned-book Scared of Santa, Scenes of Terror in Toyland, for contextualizing the bane of my childhood. Thank you for the panicked looks of hundreds of other kids, for the Santas who alternate between men who are just trying to deal with their millionth screaming child and men who are just trying to deal with their millionth screaming child by mainlining whiskey. As fascinating as mug shots, each of these pictures reminds me that we are all human and fallible--well, the kids anyway--and that soon enough, this experience will be nothing more than a sad picture and years of therapy.

What about you? Did you love your visits to Santa? Did you rattle off well thought out lists that included things like "peace on earth" and "food for all the orphans everywhere," or did you, like me, shrink inwardly and block out everything until the car ride home? Will you take your kids to see Santa this year?