Lesson(s) Learned

Lesson 1:
Do NOT show your child the Giant Toy Catalog.  It will inspire said child to circle 99% of GIANT toy catalog.  Said circling of 99% of Giant toy catalog will lead Santa to believe it's safe to get to work early and pick a few things Santa likes for the child...because after all that child did circle 99% of the catalog as possibilities.
Lesson 2:
Do NOT send your child to school on the day Santa comes to visit.  Your child may be swayed by the kiddos around them.  Without your extra wisdom to guide them back to the "purple rocket ship" they've said for the last several weeks, when it comes to that magical moment to whisper in his ear "a playground" might be what comes out instead.
Lesson 3:
Santa should not start work immediately and frantically on that playground when the child has clearly proven incapable of making up their mind.
Lesson 4:
A sigh of relief should not be breathed when a living breathing thing (no matter how small and easy to take care of it may seem at the time) gets moved to the top of the list and a formal retraction letter gets sent to Santa.  Because apparently it's pretty hard to transport fish on a sleigh.  And expect them to survive the trip.
In case you are wondering, these two were the biggest hits at our house after all that crazy stressing Santa did:

 A purple pair of scissors for Kinley and Cheese puffs for Sophie.

Priceless.

More photos here.