Trigger warning: this story contains descriptions of child abuse.
Just before Christmas last year, I found myself in line at Hallmark, rolls of wrapping paper in one arm and my baby in the other. In her red and green pajamas and matching gnome bonnet, other shoppers made a reasonable assumption: ?Oooh, someone met Santa!?
I smiled and said, “Not today.” I considered saying more, but no one wants to hear a lecture about consent and child sexual abuse in the middle of an Iowa mall, in the middle of December.
Although I adore Christmas photos?the matching outfits, the kitsch, the smiles?you won’t see my child sitting on Santa?s lap until she asks to do so.
Santa visits and the accompanying photos have become so commonplace, they are expected if you have a young child, maybe even mandatory in some social circles. Most of us have ?liked? a photo on social media of a toddler protesting a Santa visit, cheeks red, eyes bleary, arms outstretched. This sort of photo has become a cute rite of passage that few people question or oppose. But the #MeToo campaign has made me bolder. This year, I?m talking about why I could never force my almost two-year-old daughter to sit on a stranger?s knee. You know the guy I’m talking about: the kindly gentleman dressed all in polyester fur from his head to his foot, who chats with children about their greatest wishes, smiles for a photo, and then sends them on their way with a small prize, usually a candy cane, maybe somet...