December 2015

All I want for Christmas is…..

Don’t you just love childrens’ letters to Santa? As Christmas draws ever nearer, the stress levels of those of us with children can start to rise as we ponder what to get them for Christmas. If you start shopping too soon, there is every chance that they will then change their minds about what they want, but if you leave it too late, you risk missing your chance of getting your hands on that one present that will just make their Christmas.

So, if your child or children are still young enough to write their Santa letters then you have the perfect opportunity to sit down with them and hear from them direct what they would like. Plus you’ll get to keep the letters as treasured memories (and to serve as a source of future embarrassment!). By helping your child write their letter to Santa you can also subtly influence and shape expectations. So if your 5 year old insists on just writing “kitten” or “puppy” or – even worse! – “pony” then you have a chance to take evasive action at this point rather than risk tears and tantrums on Christmas morning!! Gentle explanations about the logistics of too many animals being carried on the sleigh – or of Santa not being able to fit them down the chimney – may help you out here!

Helping your child to write the letters also means that you are able to interpret what they write into what they actually mean – which really helps when they have, for example, seen an advert for something they like but don’t know what it’s called, leaving you scratching your head in bewilderment! But if you are there when they are putting pen to paper, you should hopefully be able to fill in the missing parts of the puzzle!

Of course, if you have teenagers then they will simply be too cool to write letters! Here you will need to turn detective! As direct questions are likely to be met by monosyllabic grunts, you will have to be much more devious. Listening to their general conversations, finding out what they and their friends think is cool, following either their postings or general trends on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – all these can help you to find the perfect gift. However, they may need to be dissuaded from following totally crazy trends especially if their favourite celebrity is spearheading these. You may need to use all your skills in reverse psychology to get them away from ideas such as nose piercings or visible tattoos!

All these shenanigans are starting to make Christmas shopping sound very complicated! So here’s a thought. Why not visit one of our studios this Christmas for a family photo shoot! If you sell it to everyone as a special gift that YOU really want then hopefully the kids will co-operate – especially if they are given some leeway in terms of what they wear for it! It will be a fun experience that you will all enjoy and result in something that you can all treasure for years to come! Contact us to find your nearest photography studio and we’ll create you a Christmas Present that will bring happy memories of your Christmas Past into your Christmas Future.