My 3 1/2 year old wants to know why he has to go through Santa to get toys when he can just pick out what he wants on store shelves. Me: "Look, Santa's elves make the toys and give them to those who make it on Santa's nice' list. The toy manufacturers came later and are just trying to muscle in on the territory, don't worry about them." Or, "I didn't invent the system, just work with it."
I also love this time of year because I can influence my kid's behaviour by telling him if he's not careful, he'll get on Santa's 'naughty' list...He asked what happens then? I told him he'll get 'girl toys' (not that there's anything wrong with that, he just happens not to like these....)
He picked up on this idea when we visited our local mall Santa. Santa heard what the kid wanted and then asked "what should we get daddy for Christmas, good health?" The kid answered "No, get him girl toys!" Then Santa said, "he got you dad..."
