Santa Claus is gifting the internet with an important message about consent.
On Dec. 10, Florida mom Katie Love took her 3-year-old daughter, Adley, to take pictures with Santa at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne in Miami. When Santa asked Adley if she wanted to sit on his lap, the little girl responded with a firm “No.”
Santa reacted by praising Adley for being able to communicate her wants and setting boundaries.
“I asked him to repeat what he said so that I could record it,” Adley’s mother, Katie Love, tells TODAY.com.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
The video has been seen more than 1.6 million times on TikTok.
“I said, 'This is her body, and she’s in control of her body,’” Santa explained in the clip. "I asked if she wanted to sit on my lap, and she said, ‘No,’ and I said, ‘Way to stand up for yourself.’
"You can't let even Santa Claus — if Santa Claus says, 'Do you want to sit on my lap?' If you don't want to, you say, 'No!'" he added.
At home, Love and her husband, Aaron Martin, teach Adley that she never has to accept a hug or kiss from anyone, including her parents.
“Adley knows it’s always her choice and she can give a high-five instead,” Love says. “We don’t pressure her to have any kind of unwanted touch. When we were growing up, we were told, ‘Be polite. Sit on your weird uncle’s lap,’ and I don’t want that for my daughter.”
Love notes that several people have commented on how Adley looks uncomfortable in the video.
“I think part of that had to do with the fact that she had just told Santa she wanted a purple bike, and she was worried she wouldn’t get the bike after she didn’t sit on his lap,” Love says. “But you can see her start to smile when he reaffirmed her reaction and told her that it was OK to say no.”
Steve Lantz, aka “The Rev Santa,” gets choked up when he learns why he’s going viral.
“My wife and I have a 6-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son, and we started teaching them at a very early age that they are in control of their bodies,” the Presbyterian minister and father of two tells TODAY.com. “There are times I will ask my daughter, ‘Do you want a hug?’ And if she says ‘No,’ I honor that. I don’t push. I never ask twice.”
Lantz notes that he was "very impressed" with Adley. TikTok is impressed with both of them.
“I just cried. As a child who was uncomfortable (with) touch and fam who pushed me, this is good to hear,” one person wrote in the comments.
Wrote another, "I have so so much respect for how her boundaries are respected and honored! I love how she knows to speak up for herself!! Way to go to her parents!!"
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
