Santa photos! A must have moment!

Christmas is upon us once again.

I love this time of year but I also dread it. With all the end of year obligations, Christmas parties, school break up functions and graduations it can all be a little crazy.

One thing I never want to miss out on is the Christmas photo with Santa for my children. I have had a photo done every year since Miss 12 was a baby. It is a lovely way to look back and see how each of the kids has grown over the years and how our family has grown.

Having kids with special needs does not make capturing this precious moment an easy task. Some years we have had to go back a couple of times just in order to get alll the children in the photo, even then, some of my boys had more of a grimace than a smile for the camera.

Not that I can blame them. Shopping centres are always a challenge for our family. They are loud, crowded and very bright. Three things my boys don't do well with. Add to that the waiting in line sometimes for hours if you happen to pick a bad day and the end result is either a terrible photo with crying unhappy kids or no photo at all.

This year however our local shopping centre has started a new programme that I believe will change the whole experience for not just my family, but many families in the area who have children with special needs.

They have introduced sensory Santa times. This is where you can ring up and book a specific appointment to have a photo with Santa, or even just a meet and great if your children don't like having cameras around. They also offer extra seating for children who don't like to be held so they can just sit beside Santa in their own space.

The times will be scheduled when most of the retailers are closed, the lights will be dimed if required and there won't be masses of people and noise. Each booking is for 15minutes and being at a specific time means no having to wait in line, which for us is a major challenge for Master 4.

The introduction of this programme is a god send. Having a photo with Santa should be a joyous experience and to be honest in years past it has sometimes been a nightmare.

Last years Santa photo was only achieved after 4 visits to our local shopping centre so that my boys would feel comfortable when we went in to have the actual photo. Even then we arrived an hour early so that we would be first in line and out the door before the shops became to busy.

Not this time, I have booked our session in for early December and look forward to posting our first sensory Santa photo then. Hopefully with all six children smiling and no meltdowns.

For all those parents out there who have children on the spectrum or any special needs I encourage you to look around in your local area. These sessions are being offered in so many more places these days and I'm sure will make this Christmas tradition something to look forward to.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the holidays!

@mumofmany

Source:
Image 1: Wikipedia.