S/O Scary Santa

LCass · December 2012

Why do so many kids find him so scary? I know that babies and young toddlers often do, but they're in the stage of "making strange". But I was noticing in the thread how many of you commented that you were always freaked out as a kid.

I was a super shy kid, the kind you would expect to be scared of sitting on a stranger's lap. But I can remember sitting on his lap every year, happily answering his "What do you want for Christmas?" with an emphatic "I'm Jewish!" (I grew up in a very Jewish area, and the Santas always handled this well and just asked what I wanted for Hannukah.) I always knew that Santa wasn't real, that it was just some guy in a suit. But I wonder why I was more at ease than lots of kids who believe that he's a real, jolly old man who comes to give them presents. So what was so scary about Santa when you were growing up?

Nita2603 · December 2012

I never found him creepier than any other stranger. Then again, in Germany he doesn't break into your house at night he stops by on the 24th and brings gifts. Often parents rent a Santa for that. Or he shows up at Christmas parties and such. All in all, Santa is just less all knowing and list keeping and creepy.