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Boy signals 'help' in sign language after being placed on Santa's lap

Boy signals 'help' in sign language after being placed on Santa's lap
Posted at 10:40 AM, Dec 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-11 13:52:14-05

The viral photograph speaks volumes. What this child wants for Christmas, is to get off Santa's lap.

Kerry Spencer shared the photo of her son on Santa's lap on Twitter with the caption, "We taught our baby sign language. This is the sign for 'help.' You're welcome."

The photo has received over 6,000 retweets and more than 25,000 likes.

 

 

Spencer says that the photo was taken several years ago at the Provo Town Center Mall in Provo, Utah. Her son, Samuel Spencer, who was one at the time, is 13 now. 

 

 

Spencer says she posts the image on Facebook annually as a holiday tradition, but this was the first year she tweeted the image, causing it to go viral.

"I was standing to the side when the pic was taken and actually didn't see that he was signing for help until I saw the photo," Spencer told Tampa-based WFTS. "It's ASL baby sign, so he is slightly 'mispronouncing' the word (strictly speaking, thumb should be up not sideways; babies learning to sign often mispronounce words) but it is the sign he always made when he needed help."

 

 

"Poor buddy didn't love Santa very much, ever really. So we didn't try to get him to go much after that," Spencer said.

Mary Stringini is a digital reporter for ABC Action News. Follow her on Twitter @MaryWFTS.