Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins are two women after my own heart. With the release of their new book Scared of Santa they have chronicled a childhood rite of passage; screaming bloody murder while sitting on Santa’s lap. This book is not only creative, but literally ingenious in its simplicity.

Just the other day my cousin emailed me a picture of her 1-year-old son sitting on Santa’s lap and he was laughing. I couldn’t believe it! I immediately forwarded it to my mother telling her there had to be something wrong with the boy. It just wasn’t normal. At that point, an idea hit me, but it would soon be squashed. My mother responded with a string of pictures excerpted from the Joyce and Watkins’ book. Although I was a little disappointed that I missed an opportunity, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. The pictures were classic.

So thank you Denise and Nancy, you’ve shown my friends and family that it’s not just me who finds this stuff funny. Although I will have to figure out another way to capitalize on the fear of children, I just want them to know that I feel their pain.