"When does Santa go to sleep?"

What the...? Why does he always save his strange questions for me?! Why doesn't he ever ask Truong?!

I quickly flash back the past 10 minutes to see where, what, who, how this question came to life and I couldn't find the answer. We had just finished showering the kids and were in the process of picking bedtime stories from the pile of library books. For one day, I'd love to peer into his mind to see where/how these questions are formulated.

Anyway, I gave him a slightly puzzled look (with a healthy dose of what now?! mixed in -- I was really really tired and couldn't wait for the kids to go to bed) and said: "What? Santa? Bed? What??! He sleeps like the rest of us, honey! Pick a book, please."

Kael: "But when does he go to sleep?"

It was clear to me that I was going to have to put a little bit of thought into answering this question as he was not going to accept a brush off.

Me: "He sleeps at night like the rest of us. He works during the day making toys. Like how Daddy works during the day and comes home at night. Santa does the same thing. Have you picked out a book yet?"

Kael gets an even more puzzled look on his face. I'm getting a little peeved because all I desperately want now is for them to go to sleep. Malia has been sassing me the past 3 days. She had a huge accident on the bean bag just after dinner. I'm getting more Braxton Hicks contractions. Blub is extremely active at night so I'm getting zero sleep. And I get no nap because Kael's not napping. So I'm tired. Really really tired. And sure, I admit -- more than a little cranky.

I just want them to sleep. And this... this... Santa question is standing in my way of ending a very long day. I look at him and say: "What, honey? Santa sleeps at night like the rest of us. Can we read your story now? Please?!"

Then Kael says (with real puzzlement in his voice): "But Santa gives all the kids their toys at night. How does he do that if he sleeps at night?"

Ugh. Jeez. I was not expecting that one.