Maria Thattil has praised a mother for allowing her daughter to say no to Santa’s request to sit on his lap.
The former Miss Universe Australia, 30, shared a viral video to Instagram of a three-year-old girl being praised for refusing to sit on his lap for a photo.
Maria wrote: ‘I love this so much. It’s so important to teach kids bodily autonomy and that they have agency.’
In the viral video, Florida-based mother Katie Love showed her daughter Adley taking a festive picture with her local Santa.
Usually kids will sit on Father Christmas’ lap, however Adley had a different idea – telling him a firm ‘no’ when he asked the toddler if she wanted to perch on his knee.
Maria Thattil (pictured) has applauded a mother for allowing her daughter to say no to Santa’s request to sit on his lap
Instead the toddler stood next to the Santa – and his reaction is going viral.
‘I said, “this is her body, and she’s in control of her bod”,’ 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”.
‘If Santa Claus says, “Do you want to sit on my lap?” If you don’t want to, you say, “No!”‘
It comes after Maria made a shock career change earlier this month.
The model and podcaster commenced filming for a guest appearance on the reboot of the popular Aussie soap Neighbours.
In the viral video, Florida-based mother Katie showed her daughter, Adley, taking a festive picture with her local Santa. However Adley wouldn’t sit on Santa’s lap – telling him a firm ‘no’ when he asked the toddler if she wanted to perch on his knee
‘I took a punt submitting a self-tape for a role that I knew I probably looked a little too young to play. However, the team at Neighbours loved it. They were gracious enough to call me back for a different role and voila… Amira Devkar is coming to Ramsay St,’ Thattil said.
The character she will play is Haz Devkar’s older sister, played by Shiv Palekar, a recurring cast member on the show.
‘The opportunity is so aligned to my deepest values because I’m joining Neighbours at a time where the show is evolving beautifully to tell even more Australian stories,’ she said.
‘I genuinely can’t remember ever seeing a gay female South Asian Australian character on an Aussie TV show in my childhood,’ Thattil added, before claiming that not seeing this specific type of identity in media made her feel like she didn’t belong.
It comes after Maria made a shock career change earlier this month. The model and podcaster commenced filming for a guest appearance on the reboot of popular Aussie soap Neighbours
