Why can’t parents explain to young children that Santa got held up a little, so they’ll be receiving some of their presents a day or two late and they can have more happy days?
To their older children they can explain that UPS got a little held up, that their gifts are on the way, that it’s wrong to expect perfection from mere mortals like delivery men, that only God is infallible, and that they should learn the lesson that they should always order on-line gifts early.
Noel, noel.
I wouldn’t beat on them for haste as much as I would urge the patience. To take a while to get into a Christmas mood and then pick your symbolic gift item, is not the worst thing in the world. The web DID promise it, didn’t it? To believe this the first time around is not shameful. To keep on believing it in the future without anything changing, means you need to change what you believe.