“Mummy” columnist KATE MEIKLE has been fielding curly questions from believers who have the smarts to start querying a few of the more confusing elements about Santa.

“Mummy, how old is Santa?” 

“Mummy, does Santa die?” 

“Mummy, I just don’t understand – how does Santa deliver all the presents in one night? Do you think the elves help?” 

HERE are a few of the questions I have fielded since the kids and I put up our Christmas tree. 

At age eight and six, we certainly have two ardent believers in our house, but now the kids have the smarts to start querying a few of the more confusing elements about Santa – his mortality, multi-tasking abilities and don’t mention the shopping-centre Santas who, for the record, aren’t quite the real deal; they’re more like the big guy’s helpers on the ground. In case anyone is wondering! 

My answers to the kids’ questions usually have the same vague theme: “I don’t really know, it’s all very magical. You have to choose to believe in the magic.” 

It’s a magical time of the year, for sure, especially with little ones eagerly writing their wish lists and counting down the days. 

My children are finally old and tall enough to pretty much construct and decorate the tree by themselves – gone are the days that we had to put all the nice ornaments up high away from little toddler fingers. 

One Christmas, when my son was almost two, we had to put a playpen around the tree to maintain it and the baby’s safety! 

It’s always a frenzied, tiring time of year but as I get a few more Christmases under my belt as a mum of two, I feel more settled in what our family’s traditions are and what Christmas means to us. I love this time of year. Always have! 

I love hearing my kids recount the excitement of discovering the cubby house that Santa delivered (with the help of the elves) into our backyard two years ago. How they spotted the cubby house while eating breakfast on Christmas morning and how they ran outside to see the big surprise. 

My then six-year-old son exclaimed: “Wow! Santa, you are the best Santa ever!” while he raced to check out the cubby. 

I love how they never noticed why their dad was missing most of Christmas Eve that year and never clocked Uncle Simon sneaking out of the backyard with his tool box. They were never aware of dad’s sore back the following days, either! 

Creating classic memories that become family folklore for years to come is why I feel Christmas is so magical. Yes, it’s expensive, draining and stressful in the lead up, but moments like the joy of embracing my two nieces last Christmas when they were finally able to travel home from Singapore was the best present ever. 

My mum told me the story of when she was a little girl. She distinctly remembers hearing bells ringing and sounds on the roof as she was snuggled in bed on Christmas Eve. 

She was certain that it was Santa arriving on his sleigh and she said she shut her eyes tight and fell asleep, safe and excited in the knowledge that he had “been” but she needed to be asleep for the magic to happen. 

The story of when nanna heard sleigh bells on the roof has now been retold to my kids with wide eyes. And, of course, they have been asking my mum loads of questions. 

“It’s all very magical,” is her reply.