Father Christmas' first experience 

Abril met Father Christmas for the very first time on the Christmas Eve of 2022.

Yes, believe it or not! At 8 years old...

Why? Well, because I never introduced this concept of having a photo with Father Christmas before, as I do not support children being forced and traumatised by their own parents to have a picture taken with a big fat and long white bearded man at all!

I also do not agree with exposing a child to making a long queue at a place full of crowds and chaos at Christmas time, just because the parents want them to have a picture with Santa.

And I definitely oppose 100% to forcing a child to sit on Santa's lap if they don't want to. This scares them to the bones!

My parenting approach in this regard, was to respect and wait until Abril was old enough to have a gentle experience without feeling any fear or discomfort.

So, we had a movie evening at home beforehand and we talked about what would happen and that it would be a private session with Father Christmas, and that I would also be there with her.

On the day of the meeting and after some digging from my part, she acknowledged she was feeling a bit nervous about this new experience... I reassured her that I would be there and that I would not pressure her if she was feeling uncomfortable.

And when we got to the bookshop where the event was taking place, it's owner gracefully asked her some questions that made her smile and she changed from being nervous to being curious!

The result was magical, meaningful and memorable! 

Father Christmas was kind and he introduced a very gentle conversation, which she followed through and smiled at him when she felt like it.

Incredibly, Father Christmas happened to know the Steiner School where Abril goes to and some teachers there as well!

Now I feel that it was good to have waited the necessary time to do this and to not have it done before she was ready.

And YES, we still enjoy Father Christmas' magic! 

Kizzy Petit

Author - Doula