Mother supports daughter not sitting on Santa’s lap: ‘Santa’s lap is very antiquated’

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A Florida mother’s video went viral when she took her 3-year-old daughter to see Santa Claus at The Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne hotel in Miami last week and the girl refused to sit on Santa’s lap.

Katie Love, who owns the social media agency Love Social Media, captured the moment on her phone and then posted it to TikTok, where it has received more than 2 million views and has been liked by more than 277,000 users.

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“As we got in line and she started to see a lot of the kids sitting on Santa’s lap, she tugged on my shirt and said, ‘Mom, I don’t know if I want to do that,'” Love said to Good Morning America on Monday. “And I said, ‘That is completely OK, Adley. You can say no, whatever makes you most comfortable.’

“The idea of exchanging physical touch in order to get something or to get a present is a concept that I want to move away from, as I am trying to teach my daughter to be a confident woman,” Love added.

Santa was encouraging of the girl’s decision.

He told the little girl that “it’s her body, and she’s in control of her body.”

Santa continued telling the girl, “If Santa says, ‘Do you want to sit on my lap?’ And you don’t want to, you say ‘no!'”

“I was so proud of her in that moment,” Love said. “I want Adley, even as a toddler, to always feel in control of her body, of her actions.”

Reverend Steve Lantz, who was the part-time Santa, is a father of two young children. He said he has taught his own children about a song called “My Body” to teach his kids about the importance of protecting oneself.

Karla Griffin, an elementary teacher on the online learning platform Outschool, said she is encouraged by the confidence of the little girl.

“I appreciate stories like this that highlight the importance of empowering children,” the teacher told the Washington Examiner. “It’s common for kids to hesitate in expressing themselves or saying no, fearing they might upset someone. Instilling the understanding that being kind doesn’t mean someone will always be happy can equip them for situations where they feel uneasy and need to assert themselves or say no.”

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Griffin specializes in teaching child safety to young children in her online courses that help spot unusual adult behavior and how to react to strangers and tricky people.

“Teaching assertiveness and empathy hand-in-hand not only lays the foundation for healthy relationships but also ensures they have the skills to keep their bodies safe,” Griffin said.

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