Mall Santas Take to Reddit to Share the Weirdest Things Kids Have Asked For
When you take your child to the mall to meet Santa Claus, you cross your fingers that you'll get a cute photo out of the deal. But there's a hidden perk of the experience: finding out what your L.O. really wants for Christmas. While many children are zeroed in on typical asks like video games or dolls, others have less conventional desires in mind. Or perhaps, when flustered by all the hullabaloo, they come out with seriously strange requests. A poster in the AskReddit subreddit, writing under the handle DoubleRemand, recently asked mall Santas to spill the weirdest things kids have asked for, and people who have worked as Kris Kringle, Mrs. Claus, elves, parents, or simply been the kid with a goofy desire themselves, chimed in.
Illustration by Sarina Finkelstein; Getty Images (1)
Here, just a few of the funniest and/or most eyebrow-raising items on kids' wish lists.
Practical Things
Lightbulbs
Some kids simply want to make sure Santa is keeping their household running smoothly. A Redditor named Taydin shared, "My 9-year-old kid asked for lightbulbs. I am sure Santa wasn’t expecting that."
Tape
A Reddit parent named Rothmaniac had a similar experience, noting, "At my daughter's preschool, there was a Santa. Kids were asking for the usual things, like toys and unicorns. One little girl goes up. You can tell she is thinking really hard. She asks for two rolls of tape. Dream big kid!"
Hand Sanitizer
Another parent, writing under the handle 5handana, said, "My 4-year-old daughter asked for hand sanitizer. Later confessed to me it's because everyone in her class was full of germs."
A Cardboard Box
SolaceinSydney who is a "get-your-photo-with-Santa in a department store on weekends" noted that a child asked for a cardboard box. "The boy was 9 or 10 and confirmed two or three times that yes, all he wanted for Christmas was a cardboard box."
A Coffeemaker
The_Calico_Jack said his uncle was a mall Santa and had told him that one year, a child asked for a coffeemaker "because he wanted to start his own Starbucks coffee stand instead of a lemonade stand." The reason: "Apparently, business was not very good as a lemonade stand, but he noticed a lot of adults drink coffee, so he'd make coffee. That kid is probably a millionaire now."
Snacks Kids Have Asked Santa For
Hot Dog
Other little ones seem more interested in lunch than anything from the toy aisle. Simulated_Narwhal shared, "After waiting two hours in line, my daughter asked Santa for a hot dog."
Pancakes
BubbleGumLizard had a similar experience: "My daughter asked for pancakes one year. It was very cute."
Bread—with No Crust
Redditor FrostySausage was once that kid who wanted a very specific type of food, noting, "I once asked for bread with no crust. Come Christmas Day, I actually got an entire loaf of bread with no crust."
Imaginary Items Kids Want Under the Tree
A Pen-Pencil-Marker-Crayon Hybrid
Some kids believe in Santa so much that they feel he can make something that doesn't even exist! Blue4t said, "I know the weirdest thing I asked for was a pen that could write like a pen, pencil, marker, and crayon. I'd never seen one but was sure Santa could make it. I got a 4-color pen instead."
Reindeer Eggs
V00g said one child asked for "reindeer eggs, so he could start his own franchise."
Blue Juice
Cryptospartan said, "When I was a little kid, about 3-4 years old, I told a mall Santa that I wanted blue juice for Christmas. The Santa looked at my mom like, 'Wtf does he mean by this,' and my mom was just as clueless as he was. My mom, being awesome, went out and got Hugs juice, and only gave me the blue ones on Christmas. To this day, I have no clue why I wanted the blue juice."
A World Full of Happy People
And while it might not be the "weirdest," per se, one of the cutest, most heartwarming requests has to be one from Rocktopus_PhD: "I once played Santa for a children's ballet performance and did the post-show kid greeting and whatnot. I was a surprise; the kids had no idea I was coming. I legit had a kid tell me they just wanted everyone in the world to be happy on Christmas. The little girl could not have been more than 5 or 6. No parents around, no coaching. I'm not even sure she was real. It was magical."
