There aren’t too many parents who haven’t felt exasperated trying to capture a festive family photo. This includes that first Christmas photo with Santa at the Mall which has become a classic. For babies and toddlers it’s a moment of confusion and fear as their parents pass them off to the strange man with a white beard. While the older kids know the deal, for first timers the experience usually involves screaming and crying. There are memes, instagram posts, articles and psychoanalysis sessions that address this rite of passage. As parents we are just trying to ignite the magic of Christmas and perhaps instill a little warning about being good.

While a photo failure might be disappointing at first, remember this stuff is gold down the road.

The photo on the left of my granddaughter was the inspiration behind “Picture Day at the Mall” below.

19″ tall x 9 x 9″ – Santa is sitting on a purple velvet hand-crafted chair, trimmed in gold rope and crystal button detailing. Santa wears a red velvet suit trimmed in recycled white rabbit. All dressed up for picture day, Baby is in full tantrum mode. Santa looks like his feelings are hurt and he doesn’t know what to do.

Picture Day at the Mall is available on my website at https://saracinocollection.com/collections/frontpage