Dear Santa Photos Versus Oh Dear Santa Photos

Welcome to Day 15 of Partners in a Pair Tree –

Kelly and Mo Celebrate December!

Dear Santa Photos Versus Oh Dear Santa Photos

What do I mean by “Dear Santa photos versus Oh Dear Santa photos?” Take a good look at the photo above. Which category do you think it falls into? Exactly.

While those two children are the epitome of an Oh Dear Santa photo (particularly Miss Lethargic) one need only look to Elmo from Sesame Street for a Dear Santa photo. Check out this video of Elmo’s visit with Santa.

Now that’s someone who is up for a photo with Santa!

The Dear Santa photos versus Oh Dear Santa photos can be broken down as follows. Dear Santa photos show the children to be relaxed and nicely dressed. Santa is as well. The Oh Dear photos portray a very different picture. The children are unhappy, exhausted and more often than not appear to be visiting the old boy on a whim. Ie: their clothing is not their party best. Santa is usually reacting to the unfortunate behaviour of the children and not at his best. Of course one could say there is a potential third category in which the children look great but Santa is trying not to sneeze. Or a fourth category in which one of the children is unhappy and the rest look wonderful. In fact, one could say there are unlimited categories in the Dear Santa photos versus Oh Dear Santa photos world. For the purpose of this post I shall look at examples of the first and second category.

For several reasons I would put this photo into the Oh Dear category. Little Miss Pink looks rather confused instead of relaxed. Also Santa’s cheeks are a tad worrisome.

This also belongs in the Oh Dear category due to Mr. Lights Are On But Nobody’s Home.  It’s too bad. Miss Perfect Hat has a lovely relaxed expression as does Santa.

Finally. An example of a Dear Santa photo. Note the happy, relaxed countenance of all present. But wait. What’s the purple elf doing in the photo? Clearly just moments earlier someone needed their mommy. I’m tempted to switch it over to the Oh Dear category but won’t. The actual photo is Dear Santa worthy.

This particular example is truly unfortunate. All three have perfect Dear Santa worthy facial expressions. However I simply cannot excuse the boy’s pants. Has he come straight from a wade through a shallow pond? Definitely throwing this classic into the Oh Dear category.

It would be beyond fun to zip into the future and check out this lad’s life. Obviously he’ll be living in less than perfect circumstances. How unfortunate we don’t have access to a fast forward button that could project us into his life just after he graduates highschool.

This one clearly fits the Dear Santa group. Look at those faces! Everybody is happy. One could argue that the tweens’ clothing isn’t exactly their party best. However, considering the age of these kids I think it’s pretty special their mother was even able to get them to sit with Santa. Especially considering he was visiting a very busy local mall where lots of their friends could easily see them.

The annual photos with Santa are treasured keepsakes. Not only for parents but also for the children when they are older. Sometimes the latter use the photos as ways to point out lapses in parental judgement ie:”What were you thinking? Why did you put me in that outfit?” and sometimes they select the most unfortunate example to post on Facebook as their December profile picture for all the world to see. Charming.

I have to say that my least particular favourite of all the photos displayed here (and those that are not) would have to be this one. Little Miss Party Dress is clearly not up for a party. She should be home in bed. Or anywhere else other than Santa’s knee. As for those haircuts? I hope the bowl is smashed and broken into a thousand tiny shards.

It is with reluctance that I further exploit  great delight that I use this Oh Dear Santa photo as my Day 15 ornament to the Partners In A Pair Tree.

But enough about my Dear Santa photos versus Oh Dear Santa photos of children I’ve never met. I’m curious about you. If you know kids who have had pictures taken with Santa, which category do the majority of their pictures fall into? The Dear Santa or the Oh Dear Santa? If you’d care to share, I’d love to hear.