Coming up with a perfect answer (and it's not what you think!)

"Mom," asks our little guy. "How do you know if an elf is a boy or a girl?"

I stop what I'm doing. How do I answer this? There are a lot of different directions I can go, but which one? I'm thinking fast, but apparently not fast enough.

"I know!" he says. "You have to look under his ..."

Allow me to interrupt for a moment. Can I just tell you I was a tad apprehensive about what he was going to say? But here, let's resume the conversation.

"You have to look under his HAT!" he says triumphantly. "A lot of girls hide their ponytails under their hat, so if you see a ponytail then it's a girl elf!"

As far as I'm concerned, that is the most perfect answer.