The guy in the red suit and white beard is SCARY

Owen used to be fearless. Completely willing to do anything, talk to anyone and jump off the highest of platforms. Lately he has started to develop some fears. He is afraid of the rain. He doesn't like when it snows. He is afraid of the dark. And now the big one, he is scared of Santa.
We have been talking about Christmas with him to get him excited about the season. Except anytime we mention it he always responds with "No Thanks". Not only is he afraid of the Santa in person he is afraid of anything to do with Christmas because he knows Santa is part of it.
This weekend my work hosted a Christmas party for the kids including a Santa. I thought what a great low key event to try and show him Santa really isn't scary....
We walked in the doors and approached the long hallway where we could see Santa sitting in his chair at the very end. Owen immediately tried running back out the door and when we tried to catch him he collapsed to the floor and just started screaming No! I thought man are we really torturing him by being within sight of a real Santa? We scooped him up and walked in a different way. We tried to let him get acclimated to the environment and then just sat on the floor where we could see Santa. He clung to us, heart racing saying no no no no no. I just reminded him we were just there to wave to him. And so he waved "bye Santa".
We inched our way closer a little bit at a time and finally just set him down on the floor next to Santa. He finally got up the courage to walk up to Santa and told him "I'm scared". It was one of those times were I was so impressed with him using his words I almost forgot to work on getting a picture! He touched Santa's arm and then I put him on his lap and there he sat. No crying. No trying to get off. Just completely stiff. And then guess what, I couldn't get him off. He just wanted to talk to Santa and give him hugs.

A simple trip to sit on Santa's lap isn't as simple as it once seemed. This photo took 30 minutes to take. I am glad we didn't attempt a trip to the mall this year because there is no way the people waiting in line would have allowed us that 30 minutes!

It is such a difference in situations. Through the whole experience Olivia just waited patiently for Owen to "be brave" and kept reminding us that she wasn't going to cry because she wanted to be brave and tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. At times I wondering if it was really worth it. But then we got home and it is all they talk about. Olivia reminding us she was so brave and she got to sit on Santa's lap. And Owen repeating that he is a "good boy".
And then came Sunday, Owen went to another Christmas party with Auntie Erin and Santa was there. He was afraid of Santa again. Maybe next year it will be better...?