What began with one friend’s photo of a child terrified of Santa Claus has burgeoned into the final gallery of 24 photos submitted by you, our game Consumerist readers. Whether you had one child or two, tears or outright hissy fits, we’d like to thank you for bringing a dash of humor to the whole situation and for being willing to contribute to our bit of holiday fun. Better luck next year perhaps?

Scroll down to see all 24 photos, captions for each child are below the images. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Chevawn’s stoy is especially great as she and her sister Devon actually knew Santa very well: “The best part of this picture is that my dad is the Santa in the picture. It was the only year he ever did that as a side job and the only year we were inconsolable visiting Santa. He even said our names, hoping we’d recognize his voice. No dice. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough!”

Brian’s daughter Ava looks for an escape route.

Jonathan writes: “Here’s Ben and Jack, 20-month old twin brothers. I don’t think Ben & Jack knew what was coming, because they were definitely not pleased to be handed over to Santa. We had a hard time choosing just one picture, because there were several in a row taken of crying faces and arms outstretched. This is the one we decided on, and it’s definitely a classic. The best part was when we picked them up, they immediately stopped crying, smiled, and then waved and said ‘bye bye’ to Santa.”

Mark writes: “Our kids Patrick, Sean and Collin had no interest in playing along with this Santa and quite honestly, this Santa was a real d&$#, so I don’t blame them. He kept yelling at the girl to hurry up and take the picture.”

Nathan writes: “Our son, Anthony, was not as trusting of Santa Clause as his baby cousin Lyla.”

Shanna writes: “This is from a few years ago, but it’s still a great shot. This is my son Seamus and Santa in Destin, FL. And he’s such a good Santa – pity my son didn’t agree!”

Frank writes: “My daughter is Anna and at the time of the pic she was 18 months (this was last Xmas). This year Santa has been upgraded to cautious optimism.”

Paul writes: “The photo was taken last year at my church. My oldest, Anthony, tried his best to contain his laughter at the sheer terror that Alex was experiencing. Needless to say, it seems that the experience was traumatic as this year, Alex is creeped out by our Santa figures in the house.”

Ryan writes: “This is my 1-year-old son Liam. We found out he doesn’t like Santa.”

Hector’s son Max, age 2.

Ted writes: “This is Max, he is 6 now, he was 2 in this pic. This is at the Quakerbridge Mall here in NJ. He has a cookie in his hand that he does not let go of.”

Greg writes: “Here is my son Eli at a mall on Long Island, N.Y. He did not like santa last year or this year at all!”

Robert writes: “Here are my kids, Alexa (3) and John (1)… Pictures were taken in Tysons Corner, VA.”

Sarah writes: “Katherine, age 1 year 10 months.”

Kevin and Nicole write: “This is our son Finnegan (20 months) and daughter Penelope (5 weeks) with the Santa Claus at our real estate office holiday shindig they do every year. Finnegan saw the same Santa last year and him, just peacefully gazing up at him for a lovely holiday picture. Then this year, with his new status as toddler-who-fears-all-things, the following ensued.”

Anthony writes, with the blessing of mom Sarah: “This is Drake (the guy screaming) and Ryan (the bewildered baby). The picture was taken at a mall in Temecula, CA. These guys are my nephews.”

Amy writes: “Josiah at Southpoint Mall in Durham, NC. Enjoy.”

Kim writes: “Ayden 20 months old. Layla will be 5 in February.”

Erica writes: “Dean, age 1.5, at Bass Pro last year. His older brother Kent (4.5) was perfectly happy to be there, but Dean started crying as soon as we went near Santa. He only managed to calm down a little bit when I put some distance between him and the Big Guy by holding him instead… but check out his huge lip.”

Jamie writes: “This is my 10-month-old daughter, Annabel. My husband and I have celebrated these pics by using them on our Christmas card:)”

Mickie writes: “This is my 21-month-old son, Connor. Connor started screaming the second he laid eyes on St. Nick at our real estate office. The kindly elf lady offered to hold him for a picture, since he was bucking like a bronco trying to escape. My son beat the crap out of that poor elf trying to escape. Now we call him Elf Slayer.”

Nicholas writes: “It was Adele’s first visit to USA, taken at Elizabeth Mall, New Jersey 2012.”

Mike writes: “Here is a picture of my three sons Matt, Michael and Colin when they got their picture taken with Santa.”

PJ writes that Olive, 3, needed to be held.
“Santa was scary. I cried.” – Olive, afterwards.

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