Let's be honest — there are a lot of weird Christmas songs ("Baby, It's Cold Outside," "Santa Baby," "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"), but maybe the weirdest is "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."
The song was written by British songwriter Tommie Connor and taken to #1 on the US pop charts in December, 1952 by 13-year-old country singer Jimmy Boyd. Later, of course, The Jackson 5 recorded their cover of the song which is probably the most famous version.
View this video on YouTube
Above is a new animated video of the Jackson 5 version from Classic Motown.
For a refresher, here are the lyrics to the song:
"Wow, Mommy's kissing Santa Claus
I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus
Underneath the mistletoe last night
She didn't see me creep
Down the stairs to have a peep
She thought that I was tucked up
In my bedroom, fast asleep
Then I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus
Underneath his beard so snowy white
Oh, what a laugh it would have been
If Daddy had only seen
Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night
He saw Mommy kissing, kissin', kissin' Santa Claus
I did, I really did see Mommy kissing Santa Claus
And I'm gonna tell my Dad
That I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus
Underneath his beard so snowy white
Oh, what a laugh it would have been
If Daddy had only seen
Mommy kissing…"
Upon first listen, it sounds like the story of a kid who sneaked downstairs and saw their mom kissing — and, ew, tickling — THE Santa Claus. But the twist, of course, is that it's not Santa in the red suit but the kid's dad.
Yes, this raises lots of questions:
1. If the mom and dad thought the kid was asleep why did the dad dress up like Santa. Is this some weird sexual cosplay situation?
2. Wouldn't the narrator/kid be horrified to see their mom cheating on their dad with none other than Santa Claus? I mean, hello future therapy bills!
3. WTF are parents supposed to tell their Santa-believing kids when they ask why the mom is kissing Santa? My 6-year-old asked this yesterday, and not wanting to risk ruining his belief in Santa, I just muttered, "Oh, it was just a little kiss on the cheek!" Not a great answer, but what exactly is?
All of that is to say, IT'S A WEIRD SONG!
But something I realized upon talking about this song with folks is that not everyone gets the twist that the mom is kissing her husband and not jolly ol' Saint Nick!
Either their mom was in a relationship with a fictional character or the song was all just a hallucination? Who knows? (2/2)
A lot of people think this is a tale of adultery with real Santa and are understandably disturbed.
“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” is the most troubling Christmas song of all time. Kid witnesses adultery and because dude’s got access to all the world’s toys, just laughs it off. Where’s the outrage?
Then there are a LOT of people who figured it out, but way, way late.
I just realized, at the age of 29, that the child narrator of "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus" saw her mother kissing her father in a Santa Claus costume, and did not in fact witness her mom's extramarital affair.
Like, this is not an unusual thing.
frankly astounding how long it took me to realize that "I saw mommy kissing santa claus" was implying that the kid's dad was dressed for the part and not that his mom was having an affair with santa claus
It's pretty common, in fact!
I thought that the kid who saw mommy kissing Santa Claus saw mommy participating in an affair before I ever considered it was the dad dressed as Santa
All of these people, I guess, just sort of accepted Santa was having an affair with some mom out there and went about their life/holidays?
@toddedillard I literally thought that until RIGHT NOW omg my brain
Sounds like a lot of people were low-grade traumatized.
it didn’t terrify me, per se, but i saw mommy kissing santa claus was deeply troubling to me because i was like well they’re going to get a divorce once the kid tells his dad that mom is cheating on him https://t.co/vqheuBXP8c
Some found their own way to make sense of the song.
Holiday confession, I was the age I am right now when I realized the holiday song “I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus” that Santa was his dad 😫😂 I always just thought mommy was out here being a thot for Santa 🎅🏾 🤦🏽♂️😂
Seriously, this is not an isolated thing.
Time for my Christmas confession ... Until my late 20s I thought "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" was a weird adulterous song.
Lots...
Yearly holiday reminder that I thought “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” was a dark tale of holiday adultery until a few years ago when someone told me that “Santa” is Daddy and it’s actually a heartwarming tale of consensual role play
And lots...
2) In “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” I just realized this year that Santa Claus is the kid’s dad. Yes, I realize I am very very late in realizing this. Merry Christmas.
And LOTS of people interpreted it this way.
When I was a kid I thought the mother in "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus" was having an affair with Santa. (My childhood wasn’t great.)
And, since this song keeps getting a whole lot of play, we can be sure kids are being messed up by it as we speak!
I am 22 years old. I’ve listened to the classic Christmas song, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus MY WHOLE LIFE. And it’s only NOW occurring to me that this child could be seeing their mom kiss their dad in a Santa Claus costume and NOT witnessing their mom have an affair.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
