Seeing Santa Claus is a time-honored tradition during the holiday season. Not every child is into this festive outing. For many, Santa can be scary. One Florida man not only understands this but respects and supports children’s boundaries around their own bodies.
Steve Lantz, who was portraying the jolly figure, fully supported 3-year-old Adley Love. He told her she was in control of her own body. Adley’s mom Katie Love posted the exchange on TikTok and it quickly went viral with over 2 million views and over 3,000 comments so far.
Katie opened up about the experience on Good Morning America. "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.' And I said, 'That is completely OK Adley. You can say no, whatever makes you most comfortable,'" she recalled.
Katie was proud of her daughter for speaking up. She was amazed that Adley "so confidently [voiced] that she did not want to do it in real time." She is glad her daughter feels empowered to set boundaries.
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Santa was also proud of Adley. He told her “way to stand up” for herself. “If Santa Claus says 'Want to sit on my lap?' and you don’t want to, you say no,” he advised.
Many TikTok users applauded this as well and voiced their support in the comments.
One user wrote: "I love this. No reason to pressure her to be uncomfortable for a picture."
"I just cried," shared another. "As a child who was uncomfortable w touch and fam who pushed me, this is so good to hear."
To see Santa supporting Adley, watch this video.
