Why doesn’t Father Christmas get incinerated when he comes down a chimney?

熊孩子问：为什么圣诞老人从烟囱里下来的时候不会被烧成灰呢？

"There are lots of tricky questions and as children get older, certainly from five years and above, they can be very logical and questioning. I think it’s best to be mysterious here. Pass on a story you grew up with as a child - or make up your own. Your family Father Christmas story can be whatever your imagination comes up with: travelling through different dimensions is a good start. Just respond to your children’s own age and temperament."

专家支招：随着孩子不断长大，他们会向大人们不断抛出许多棘手的提问。特别是从五岁开始，孩子们开始有自己的逻辑思维能力和思辨能力。因而我认为，针对某些问题最好还是保持神秘。把你从小听到的故事继续讲孩子听，或者你自己编一个吧。你可以结合孩子的年纪和性格，把自家的圣诞故事编得天马行空。把圣诞老人编成异次元旅行就是一个不错的开头。

If Father Christmas can fit down the chimney, why don't robbers get in the house that way, too?

熊孩子问：如果圣诞老人都能穿过烟囱，那为什么小偷不能也这么进来呢？

Try: "Ordinary human beings cannot safely climb down chimneys, but Father Christmas doesn’t get squashed or travel down the way we would have to."

专家支招：“那是因为普通人不能像圣诞老人一样安全的穿烟囱啊，圣诞老人不像我们会被烟囱压扁的。”

How can Father Christmas deliver presents to people who don't have chimneys?

熊孩子问：如果有屋子里没有烟囱，圣诞老人要怎么给他们送礼物呢？

"We don't have a chimney, and I’ve always said he teleports into houses in a mysterious way."

专家支招：“没有烟囱的话，圣诞老人就会用神秘通道进来啦。”

Why did the reindeers leave the carrot but Father Christmas drink all the whisky?

熊孩子问：为什么小鹿们只有胡萝卜吃，但是圣诞老人可以喝光所有的威士忌呢？

"Father Christmas doesn’t want to leave behind a drink that could be spilled in the morning's excitement. If you are quizzed about how many glasses of sherry and whiskey he must get offered during the night, maybe you could say he uses it to power the sledge. And the reason the reindeers leave their carrot is so they are not too heavy to fly."

专家拆招：“因为圣诞老人不想让它在第二天早上弄湿了你们的礼物呀”如果你被追问圣 诞老人到底一晚上喝了多少杯雪莉酒和威士忌，那么你就可以说是用来给雪橇添燃料了。至于驯鹿只能吃胡萝卜的原因，可以说是为了避免吃太饱飞不动。

Why are there several Father Christmases in the shopping centre?

熊孩子问：为什么商场里也有圣诞老人呢？

"I think if you are queuing up to see a one-off special Father Christmas, you could say that it was the real one, especially if you’re child is five years or younger. When there are lots around, especially the one’s that don’t look very much like Father Christmas, parents might want to explain that shops also dress up people as Father Christmas, and they all help him."

专家支招：如果你的孩子只有五岁或者更小，你就可以在排队的时候告诉孩子那一个就是圣诞老爷爷啦。但要是周围有很多圣诞老人，而且装扮还不太专业的，家长就可以对孩子说，那是商场为了帮圣诞老人的忙特地穿上的。

Even if I'm naughty, do I still get a Christmas present?

熊孩子问：如果我不乖的话，我还有礼物收吗？

"I wouldn’t recommend bribing children with Christmas presents or blackmailing them that they won’t get any presents if they are naughty.

"When they become older, they will realise there is no correlation necessarily between good behaviour and presents received either among themselves or their friends at school."

专家支招：我不赞成用没有圣诞礼物为由，引诱或者恐吓他们做个乖小孩。因为当他们长大后，孩子自然会明白表现好和收礼物没有必然的联系。

How does Father Christmas have time to get round all the houses in the world in one night?

熊孩子问：圣诞老人是怎么在一晚上去到世界每个角落的呢？

"Again, you need to choose an explanation you are comfortable with. I tend to say that he doesn’t experience time the way we do, so that Christmas night lasts a long time for him, to give him all the time he needs but runs quickly for us."

专家支招：我还是建议家长选择自己认为合理的解释。我会对孩子说圣诞老人过得的时间和我们不一样。他的圣诞夜比我们的长，所以才能给全世界的孩子送礼物。

How can those reindeers fly but normal ones can’t?

熊孩子问：为什么圣诞老人的麋鹿会飞，普通的不行呢？

"If you are committed to an extraordinary explanation, suggest that Father Christmas operates outside normal time, geography and gravity, and can ride his reindeers anywhere in the world or the sky."

专家支招：如果你想回答得特别些，你可以说是因为圣诞老人操控了世界的时间、地理和重力，所以驯鹿才能满世界飞。

Do all the presents for all the children in the world fit on the sleigh, or does Santa have to go home to stock up?

熊孩子问：全世界所有小孩的礼物都被圣诞老人装在雪橇里吗，还是说他得送到一半回家再去取呢？

"His sleigh is like a Tardis, small on the outside but immense on the inside. Again, be sensitive to your child’s age and developmental stage: you know them best."

专家支招：圣诞老人的雪橇就像塔迪斯飞屋那样，外面小小的但是里面无限大。根据孩子的年纪和成长阶段作调整，毕竟你是最了解孩子的人。

What if Father Christmas brings a present that wasn't on my list?

熊孩子问：那为什么圣诞老人给我的礼物不是我愿望清单里的！

"Father Christmas is only guided by what’s on your list - it isn’t an order."

专家拆招：“你的愿望清单不是菜单，圣诞老人只是用来做参考的。”

（译者：菠萝油八戒 编辑：齐磊）