2.
“I appreciate this is Santa-adjacent, but I think it fits the bill.”
“Not my own kid, but I managed to convince my niece that I worked for a special branch of the police who managed air traffic from the North Pole, and could in fact get a message to Santa so he would visit her at the hospice where we were staying over Christmas (it was my mum who was ill, and it was at that point where leaving for any length of time wasn’t an option).
Her parents (who are, frankly, awful) had told her Santa wasn’t coming and she’d have to wait, and she’d convinced herself that she was naughty for wanting to be with her grandma, and I just wasn’t having it.
I’d managed to send a friend to Smyths at 4pm on Christmas Eve for some gifts for her, the nurses got us some wrapping paper and oatmeal, and carrots for the reindeer. We left snack-a-jacks out for Santa (I’d told her that whilst this wasn’t traditional, he would appreciate it as he was watching his waistline).
It was a full-blown mission, but she absolutely lost her mind on Christmas morning when Santa hadn’t forgotten about her.”
–Beginning_Drink_965