Oh bollocks, the 5 year old just found his "Santa" gift.

[Mrsfrumble]

The plan was for each child to have one big toy each and their stockings from Santa, and a few smaller things from us parents. This morning DH took the children into his office and DS found the big Lego set which was to be his Santa toy hidden under DH's desk.

How do we explain this one?? DS is already extremely skeptical about Santa, but I've done my best to convince him that he's real, mainly because I don't want my children to be the ones who spoil it for other children by telling the truth at school. We're not going to buy him another big present at this stage, obviously. Any suggestions?

I would just pretend it's for his cousin or something and on Christmas Day tell him Santa has coincidentally brought him the same one. My mum did exactly the same when I saw one of my presents in the back of the car, aged 6. When I opened it on Christmas Day, I was genuinely amazed that Santa had also given me one (gullible)

It definitely seems unfair for him not to get it now he has seen it, if it is something he would like. I wouldn't take something back just to keep the charade simple, as knowing my ds he would remember what he had seen and be half expecting it, so the disappointment wouldn't be worth it.

I would put something else to be from Santa and just give it from you, but I dislike going too far in aid of the Father. Christmas thing, I would get myself tied up in knots. We do it as as a game, led by ds. I'm fine with 'pretending' along, and telling what if type stories, but never go into the territory of 'making stuff up'.

Is there nothing that you and your DH have got him that could be swapped over, so the lego is now from you and a different thing you had intended to be from you and DH is now from Santa?

Doesn't seem a massive issue to me --granted I would probably just go to my twitch list and buy him something else to be from Santa--

In our household Santa brings a stocking and a couple of the wish list presents that may spill out of the stocking. Then the tree presents are from DH and I and whichever family has sent gifts (from overseas).

So it turns out that DH went a little bonkers in the Lego store in Black Friday, and there's another big Chima set stashed in the car. So that will be DS's Santa present, and the set he saw is going to be from his Grandparents (we live abroad so we usually buy things on their behalf and they transfer the money, and we hadn't got round to sorting anything out this year). Phew! Good job he's so obsessed with Lego.

Thank you sincerely for all the suggestions. Next year, if DS questions the logistics of Santa or makes any unfortunate discoveries I'm just going to tell him the truth. Hopefully by then he'll have developed enough empathy to understand that he mustn't spoil it for other children and his little sister.

I would say more Lego is the sort of happy ending we all wanted to see [frgin]

Sorry I seem to have just made a funny noise! it was meant to be

Santa in our family works like Ikea... you get sent the stuff from Santa but you have to assemble it yourself :P

I tell my kids that sometimes the elves start delivering things early as Santa is very busy and can't be expected to do ALL of it on Christmas eve

Hopefully it's taught your dh not to be such a knobhead in future