11 Stages Of Visiting Santa's Grotto With Your Children

As much as you try to fight it, the festive season is drawing ever closer and your children know it (like a sixth sense they use to slowly bankrupt you).

Soon you’ll be responsible for Christmas shopping and posting those letters off to the North Pole. But before that, there is the armageddon known as Santa’s grotto.

1. They moan for weeks about going.

2. You remind them how much they hated it last year but agree to go anyway because you’re a saint.

3. Trying to get tickets is harder than Glastonbury.

4. When you get there you have to queue for hours in the cold and try to keep morale up.

5. While also trying to distract them from Santa on his cigarette break.

6. They decide they don’t want to go anymore JUST as you reach the front of the queue.

7. They won’t sit anywhere near him and sit on your lap instead.

8. They cry every time Santa tries to ask them a question.

9. By the time they finally agree, your window is over and you have to leave.

10. They are given some terrible present that you have to pretend you’re excited about. Even though you paid for it.

11. And despite this hell, they won’t stop talking about it the whole way home and ask to go again next week.