Our 7yo has asked for a musical instrument for Christmas to replace the one she has, which she has now outgrown. She has lessons, practises hard, and we think this is a good idea.
The thing is that it will cost £300 (we've researched it, and this is the best option musically), and our budget would only be £100 for a main present from Father Christmas. However, she has managed to save £100 of her own from generous relatives over the years, and we could also sell the instrument she already has after Christmas, perhaps for £100 too, leaving "Santa" with just £100 to pay. Perfect!
But she thinks that she can just ask Father Christmas for the new instrument as he can afford anything, and keep her £100 for herself. We want to keep the magic of Santa alive, but how do we explain that sometimes, for very expensive presents, Father Christmas welcomes some financial help, as he has lots of children to buy for? And how do we explain how we get the money to him? We know that this isn't the worst problem in the world, and we're lucky to be able to afford a nice present at all, but has anyone else come across this, and how did they manage to solve it please? (Her birthday isn't until September, so we can't wait till then.)