I have between 200 to 250 children visit me here every day and even more at the weekends.
A few days out from Christmas it's not unusual to see close to 500 kids a day.
I've had 3500 photos with kids since the six-week Santa season began at Westfield.
I reckon this is the best job in the world because of the way a child's face will just light up when they see me.
What's even better is this job can put that same childlike smile on the face of parents and grandparents.
I get to have photos with little children and even some newborn babies when mums do their best to get out of hospital for Christmas.
I had a 98-year-old woman come in for a photo with me this year. She came in her wheelchair with her two daughters and having a photo made her day.
Small kids will always ask for scooters, barbie dolls and baby doll prams.
A lot of them will ask for puppies and horses too but I have to tell them there's no room for animals on my sleigh. And Rudolf doesn't like other animals. Blame it all on Rudolf.
You ask kids if they've been good and the answer is always yes. Never fail.
Parents will have a laugh too by asking for a vacuum cleaner or a husband. Older ladies will say I forgot to bring them that diamond necklace last year and it's all in good fun.
One man brought in his eight-year-old son who had stopped believing in Santa magic. He needed me to convince him it was real.
Young children from about 12 months to three or four years old are afraid of someone whose face is almost completely covered and is loud and boisterous. The young child is literally thrown at Santa, and is expected to love it and smile,” he said.
He advises that the best strategy is to allow the child to get gradually closer to Santa while being held by a parent. He will get down to the child’s level, speak softly, and hold out a candy cane, while attempting to gain confidence and persuade a child to come to him.
“Usually a picture of the parent holding the child is the only thing that we are able to get,” he said.
“If the child accepts Santa on their terms and not the parent’s, all will be well.”
Santa explained that children’s feelings about him come in stages. When the little ones get over their fear, the next stage is love and adoration for Santa, and then fear sets in once again. This time it is the fear of embarrassment, the chance that a peer will see them, or that they will be condemned for believing.
Santa can be heard saying, almost continually, “You are never too old to sit on Santa’s lap.”
Eventually, most people reach the stage when it is once again acceptable to sit on Santa’s lap and enjoy the magic.
Santa told about his first experience with the joy of giving, when he helped a needy family with seven young children.
“That very experience of delivering the presents to a family that had next to nothing forever changed my outlook on Christmas and has made me the person I am today.”
The genuine love he feels for his fellowman shines in Santa’s eyes as he speaks. “Just as Jesus Christ gave to each and every one of us that we might have joy, we give to others to help them feel the joy that a present brings,” he said.
It is a bittersweet time for Santa when Christmas is finally over, the last child visited, the last gift delivered, and he takes off the red suit until next year.
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