If you're a parent with a young child-a child who's just old enough to appreciate the fact that Santa Claus is coming-then the Christmas season is something you might face with equal parts of joyful anticipation and dread. On the one hand, you can't wait to help Jolly Old St. Nick make your child's Christmas morning the most perfect day of the year. On the other hand, there's that constant gnawing in the pit of your gut that maybe, in your shopping haste, you got everything wrong. Little children these days are pounded with advertising and commercials for months in advance about the best toys that are available this Christmas.

Most kids know for several months, leading up to Christmas, exactly what they expect Santa Claus to deliver on that special day. A mom or dad, or anyone who decides to help St. Nick, needs to pay close attention to what the little ones wish for, because what they say they want, in October, could be very different from what they write to Santa, wishing for, in December. Even if parents know what toys their little ones want for Christmas, they may not know the right color or size or model.

It seems that every toy, today, has lots of variations, which can cause Santa's helpers lots of headaches, when it comes to shopping. The whole holiday season, for the parents of young children, is about that wonderful moment on Christmas morning, when the surprise is complete, and the magic of Santa Claus is proven-that he really knows what every child wants. No parent wants to be responsible for the kind of disappointment that the wrong color choice or the wrong model choice can create. Young parents need to learn what most veterans of the Christmas Challenge already know-it's O.

K. for Santa to be fallible. In the long run, there are a lot of events that will live much longer in a child's memory than the gifts that Santa brought-or didn't-in any given year. Though your child may be disappointed, there are other gifts that Santa left that can help take the sting out.

But if, at the end of the day, the perfect toy is still being pined for, let your child know that Santa isn't pefect, and he brought what he could fit on his sleigh. Tell your child that Santa won't mind if you go out, together, in the next few days, and exchange what Santa brought for the gift that your child really wanted. That will take the pain out of any Christmas disappointment for both of you.

And the next time it happens, you won't be nearly as disappointed with yourself or with Santa.

Imaginary Greetings is dedicated to helping families around the globe create splendid holiday moments. When Santa calls, your child will remember those moments forever.