Father Christmas, how do you make it plausible?

[darcymum]

How do you explain why FC brings the presents but they are from granny (etc)?

How it's a different FC at school and at the grotto visit?

Please add more difficult questions that are certain to come up with the answers.

FC brings one present and a stocking - everything else arrives staggered from Oct onwards when we catch up with families and goes under the tree (if small enough) from weekend before christmas- cue lots of shaking and guessing.

FC is too busy at christmas so the FC's in shops are really elves working for Santa.

Magic key gets him into house.

Any other question answer is usually - magic I suppose.

From 7 onwards I refused to tell a lie in response to a question on the subject so this year I broke and told my 8yo the truth so he stops asking difficult questions in front of younger ones. He took it remarkably well but now wants to stay up to midnight to help fill the stockings.

Will get this for 5yo who asks a lot of questions.

FC used to bring a couple of bigger presents which had been requested. Any other presents were from whoever had given them to DD.
FC has lots of helpers at Christmas as he is soooo busy and again we have a magic key which lets him into the house.

My 9 and 5yr olds have never really asked too many questions about how it all 'works'. When they have, I might say ''I don't really know'' in a quizzical way and change the subject . I don't want to get into explanations that are too complicated.

Stockings (on beds) and one main present (always next to fireplace) are from FC. The reast are from whoever signs the tag.

Presents are not put under the tree until xmas eve evening when they are asleep. I've never got into a discussion about who brings them all because, they are aware that they already have some presents that have been put away that have been given by friends and extended family.

If they really pushed it (or found the hiding place), I think, I would make it clear that FC only brings their stocking and the main present.

They have also never queried the FC's seen in shops - also the black FC seen two years in a row at one place we go to (which I think is fab).

Are my children odd?

Family/Friends choose presents & send them or money to buy them to Father Christmas...he keeps them & decides if DD has been good enough to get them

Oh, that's a good idea OFFDAY, I suppose if they are not good enough other children get them.

very similar to itsstillgood

FC gets in through the loft - we leave it open before they go to bed

FC is magic but only on Christmas Eve - so he can't be in two places at once any other time - so he needs helpers who are representations of him in the grotto etc

FC leaves a stocking each plus a large present. Everything else under the tree is put out in advance for feeling/prodding and is stated as who it is from

As well as supplying some of his "own" presents,aka the Christmas stocking , Father Christmas is also the "delivery man", like a postman, bringing the presents from the various relatives.

He is also very clever and knows that some presents need to be delivered to his grandparents' house (as we spend Chistmas Eve there and open some presents there on Christmas morning before going home) and others need to be delivered to our house

Becasue there is so much to be delivered, he does some advacne deliveries, so that his sledge is not overloaded on the night.

we put big boot prints (using talc or flour) from the front door to the xmas tree and back again after dd is in bed she is so convinced by this that she has never questioned anything else!

this will make you laugh...

our chimney ( a metal box thing with a flue from a gas fire) got badly damaged in a storm and was sitting all wonky waiting to fall off on someone or in through the roof

so we got it removed and the hole tiled over as there is now an electric fire in the fireplace

cue the kids then 5 and 3 starting to wail, and i mean wail, when they saw what was happening "but HOW will father christmas get in!!" (as we also have no leter box)

we had SO not anticipated that (was the middle of summer too)- so of course the answer is he is MAGIC - he even gets into peoples homes if they live in flats etc

not to mention getting everywhere in one night

is there really a need for fake footprints, reindeer poo etc? its still exciting!!

Ds loves finding flour created Santa's footsteps on Christmas morning :)

I also have to remember to tkae acorss a carrot (for Rudolf) and a mince pie (for Santa) to my dad's and put them out on a tray before ds goes to bed - and then to take bites out of them before we go to bed!

My dc get a gift and stocking from Santa and all other gifts are from whomever gave them.I always have to remember what pressie we "gave" them.

when dc1 started to question santa he was 5ish. He asked for a nintendo ds. I kept saying no way, he was too young etc. On christmas morning his pressie was a nintendo ds and ds was convinced that santa had to be real.

Word of warning we did the flour footprint ds2 freaked out that santa had been in his room and couldn't sleep for a few nights incase someone else got in.

Yes, my ds gets a bit freaked out at the thought of someone in his room - even if he is bringing presents!

So we usually leave his empty stocking outside his bedroom rather than on the end of his bed (as we did when we were children)

I've never said that fc brings all the presents (from friends and relatives) because they are likely to find them/see them at some point and wonder why fc does not have them!

So, unless you have failsafe (and large!) hiding places, it's very hard to keep that story going.

I also make sure that I wrap the fc presents in different wrapping paper from any others. I've often had to re-wrap ones that I have muddled up . Of course, you then have to hide that wrapping paper too!! Fc also has reeeally bad handwriting - ds has become a bit of a detective about such things

Hence keeping it as a simple as possible so my brain an cope.