A word from Santa
When the nice list needs a nudge.
Every parent has reached for it: “Santa's watching, you know.” This is that, except Santa actually rings.
How Santa handles it
You tell the elves what's been going on: not listening at bedtime, pushed his sister on Tuesday, the room. Santa rings, asks for your child by name, and has a quiet word. He's firm and he's honest about what the elves have seen, but he's never scary. There's no coal and no "you'll get nothing". He tells them he's seen them be kind before, that there's still time before Christmas Eve, and he asks them for a promise. Then he writes it in the big book with his special pencil, and says goodbye like Santa.
Why it works
Because it's specific. Santa doesn't say "be good"; he says "the elves told me about your sister on Tuesday". And because there's a way back. Children respond to a promise they've made to Santa far better than to a telling-off, and you get to be the one who arranged the rescue.
Little ones
For under-fives Santa keeps it tiny: one clear, kind ask, a promise, a "good boy" or "good girl", and off he goes. He never lectures a three-year-old, and it's fine for you to answer for them.
And then, the follow-up
The Christmas pack has Santa checking in once a month. "I'm ringing to see how you've been getting on this month." You update the notes before each one. It's the most effective bit of parenting kit we've ever built, and we built a phone assistant for plumbers.