Santa Perks.

Sitting on Santa's lap is just not. what. it. used. to. be.

Remember the days when you would pay a couple bucks, walk up to Santa, sit down, tell him what was on your Christmas list, have your picture taken with a polaroid camera, and then watch the photographer furiously shake the photo before quickly shoving it into a cheesy Christmas photo sleeve?  Ha.  Not anymore.  Oh no.  We've not entered the digital age folks.  And Santa and his little photographer elves are milking sucker parents for all they're worth.

Let me set the scene for you...

Giddy first-time parents eagerly head to the mall to enjoy watching their sweet little Henry sit on Santa's lap for the very first time.  We are warmly greeted by the following sign...

"Remember-sitting on Santa's lap is always free.  But if you intend to take pictures with your own camera, you MUST buy one of our photo packages.  See our sales assistant for details."

No big deal right?  How expensive can the cheapest photo package really be?  Ha.  Don't kid yourselves.  We came to find out that we'd be investing AT LEAST $19.99 plus tax just to put Hank's sweet little bootie on Santa's lap so we could take pictures.  And you're probably thinking...ok, $19.99 isn't so bad.  Well-it wouldn't be...except for that price, all you walk away with (aside from wonderful memories) is 4 wallet-sized pictures.  Let me repeat that...4 wallets for $19.99.

So for a split second, Daddy Perks and I looked at each other and thought...do we really need to spend over $20 for Henry to sit on Santa's lap when he clearly won't remember this experience since he's a mere 3 months old?

And what do you think we decided?  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Judging by the serious look on Henry's face...it appears his list for Santa this year is quite long :)

I was quite impressed with Santa's authenticity.  Real beard and belly.

Henry was rockin' his brown leather loafers for this expensive momentous occasion.

Anyone notice the cheesy 1970's backdrop in these photos?  I laughed because when I look back at my own pictures on Santa's lap for the 80's, I always think the background makes them look so dated.  I can't help but think that Henry will have the same feeling when he looks back on these pictures years from now.

And in case you're wondering...we didn't even go with the cheapest package.  Because of course, once your sweet precious baby's face pops up on the computer screen and they start showing you the potential pictures you can order-you realize you'd pay ridiculous amounts of money just to remember these special moments.

So for $32 we walked away with 1 5x7, 4 wallets, and a USB with 3 images on it.

However...the memories we have of watching our sweet baby boy sit on Santa's lap for the first time...now those, were priceless.