You know the drill. It’s that time of the year when the kids want to visit Santa — or not. It seems that since the dawn of time, when Santa time comes, there’s always at least one squirming, miserable child plopping on Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick’s lap with a cringe bigger than his signature belly accompanied by Fright Night screeches and tears rolling down his or her cheeks.

Everyone knows the scene well. It’s classic. The holiday tradition that goes terribly awry.

The scene is anything but  jolly. Though, while we always tend to cringe a bit with and for that crying kid, we can’t seem to help seeing the humor in it. So do the parents who so hope to get the right pose for framing.

Really, though, you have to figure that some huge bearded guy in a red suit is, well, a bit bizarre of a thing for a little one to handle. Then there are the lights, the camera, and the … tears.

So, as we have been doing every year, we honor the moment — the miserable child, Santa tears not-so-Kodak moment.

This little guy with Santa tears of not so much joy is little George Clark, of Fair Haven. His mom, Ann, tells us that he was at The Galleria in Red Bank for this 2012 pose that went terribly wrong.

We assure you that George is a happy little guy. He just had a bit of an aversion to Ol’ Saint Nick here. Well, at least Santa’s happy. We’re pretty sure those tears have been replaced with a smile.

Merry Christmas, George! It’s not so bad anymore!

Have any snapshots of Santa moments like this to share? Send them to us at [email protected] with a little explanation of the place and the year the photo was taken along with a photo credit. Hey, someone has to share the limelight with George, right?