NORTH POLE – We sat by an open fire with stockings hanging from the mantle, draped by a pine and spruce garland with red and gold ornaments. On either side of the stone fireplace were red armchairs, the same color as Santa’s coat. He smiled, rosy cheeks crinkling the corners of his twinkling blue eyes, and stroked his long white beard.

“Toys are constantly changing,” Santa Claus said. “They have more bells, whistles, gigabytes and bandwidth. It is truly fascinating. There is so much creativity in a toy, so much possibility. As a toy maker, I’m always fascinated by new toys.”

To keep up with the latest trends in the industry, Santa’s Workshop has had to become more innovative in rapidly changing times.

“Children ask for the most interesting things: unicorns, jetpacks, a yacht and carpet shampooers. But for the most part, they just want toys. Christmas is still about toys when you’re a child,” he said.

“We aim to touch as many lives as possible. As you can imagine, it’s a lot to manage on my own, and there are a lot of children expecting presents under the tree, so I outsource from international companies, especially the high-tech product- technology has never been my strong suit, as the younger elves like to remind me,” he said, chuckling.

“But you can be assured that my most trusted elves oversee the production of every assembly line,” he added with a wink. Although technology has affected toy manufacturing, toy delivery continues to occur through the same age-old, mysterious process. So how does he do it?

“I’m a jolly old elf with a magic bag of toys in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer,” he said. “I’ve got all I need. Plus, I have secret helpers all around the world.”

Next year, Santa will be pushing for an internship program to bring in fresh minds worldwide.

“We’re calling it the YETI Program or Young Entrepreneurs Take Initiative. I thought of the name myself,” he said, beaming. The program aims to improve toy quality, increase production and enhance business continuity.

“We want to make the best toys, and there are no better experts than the youth. They have such wonderful ideas.”

Toys are a tool of the imagination and are a much more precious gift than anything wrapped in a candy cane striped box. Imagination, Santa said, is where the real magic comes from, the spark of creativity that makes a toy more than just a toy.

“Toys are constantly changing, but children still like to do what children have always liked to do,” he said. “They enter this world as they always have filled with curiosity and wonder.”

They pretend to be adventurers, defenders, makers and heroes. They still enjoy collecting, competing, building, taking apart, launching, listening, solving, setting up and dressing up.

“That’s what I really hear when they whisper in my ear or send me a letter. It’s not just about what they want but who they want to be. You never know how a toy can help reveal a child’s path to lifelong happiness and fulfillment,” he said. “Watching them grow up is both the most wonderful and hardest part of my job.”

Santa Claus still keeps an eye out for every child, even after they grow up and have children.

“You know I love talking with children – their faces and little voices, the ways they pronounce words. It’s the most magical sound on earth,” he said, leaning forward in his seat. “However, my favorite part is when I glance over to see the faces of parents, many of whom sat on my lap when they were children. You can see it in their eyes – for a brief moment, they believe again.”

Grown-ups, Santa said, sometimes lose sight of what it was like to be a child. They lose their imagination and sense of wonder.

“In my experience, we give imagination less value and space as we grow up. We are taught to value material things. We stop dreaming. We stop questioning, “what if?’ We stop believing,” he said. “But like I tell my elves, it’s never too late to have a happy childhood. It’s never too late to believe.”

So, how can we reconnect to our inner child?

“Spend time with children, simple as that. Don’t just parent them; learn to see through their eyes. Play their games. Build a snowman or start a snowball fight. Bake cookies from scratch. Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows. Tell them a bedtime story and act out the characters. Smile often. Love like a child loves, innocently and freely,” Santa said.

“Christmas can mean many things to different people, but Christmas is exactly what it has always been for me: a night for a miracle. It’s a time for hope, joy, and peace to take center stage. And it’s necessary to pause and remember that the gift of being loved by another is the greatest gift of all.”

That is the true gift of Christmas.