Modern day Santas have to move with the times

IT MIGHT be a timeless tradition, but being Santa Claus requires constant refresher training. Just ask Santa Glenn.

BEING a Santa Claus assistant is no walk in North Pole, it requires yearly training on how to keep up with the latest trends, memorising popular new toys and how to answer a child’s tricky questions.

Santa Glenn has been in the business for nearly eight years and said it is a “brilliant job” to light up a child’s life in the festive season, and he is no stranger to answering the hard questions.

Xmas already?

Kids’ reactions

“Are you the real Santa Claus?” a lot of children will ask this year, and Santa Glenn knows exactly how to answer.

“The official rule of being Santa is to never say that you are the real Santa,” he said.

“Santa has a lot of helpers and the real Santa is out there, you’ve just got to figure out which one he is.”

If all else fails, Santa Glenn will pull out his international sleigh licence, his credit bank of Kringle and North Pole bank cards – which can often convince the adults.

One of the most golden rules when filling in for Santa is to never promise a child they will receive the toy they are wishing for – it could set their parents up for a disappointing Christmas.

Santa Glenn is part of Claus Net – an international brotherhood of Santa’s helpers – and completed a certificate through the Santa Claus Conservatory as part of his educational process which he will refresh once the season’s over.

Santa Glenn has a rest before the Christmas spirit really ramps up. Picture: Josh Woning/AAP

“You try and do it (training) throughout the year to keep up to date with what’s going on,” he said.

Training includes guidelines on how to answer questions from children, keeping up with performance and consistency of appearance, how you handle children, and more.

“Coming up to the season they release the latest toys’ hotlist coming up to Christmas,” which hundreds of Santa’s helpers will memorise.

“And if all else fails we just say ‘and Charlie what’s your favourite part of that toy’ and then all of a sudden you get a greater understanding of what the toy is and you learn something new.”

Over his eight years of spreading Christmas joy, Santa Glenn said he looks forward to the magical season every year.

“I love seeing the kids, and I love seeing the adults become kids,” he said.

“I have a few adults starting to wonder each year, which is a great thing.

“The children are great and they are happy, but it’s special when you can transport an adult back to their childhood.”