In the Merch booth at Harry Potter on Broadway with Ella

I promised my 11-yo niece Ella I would buy her one thing from the Harry Potter merch shop. It's mid-December and we've just spent half an hour talking about all the Pusheens Ella hopes to get from Santa. Ella believes in Santa, by the way. There are many reasons to clutch the jolly old man close to your heart. To let go of him is:

• to let go of childhood
• to disappoint her dad, who loves how much his kids love Santa
• a definite gamble. What if you say you don't believe and you turn out to be wrong and then you don't get any presents? There's a lot on the line here. It's like Pascal's wager but with much more immediate stakes.

So we go into the Merch booth and Ella beelines to a sales lady in the magic wand section. 

"How much are the wands," she asks.

"$45," says the lady.

"45 dollars?!!!," squawks Ella. "I don't think so!!!" She whirls around and stalks off. I scramble to follow in her indignant wake.

"Do you think $45 is a lot for a magic wand?" I ask.

"Yes," says Ella. "They have wands at Barnes & Noble for $20. I'm just going to ask Santa for one and he can buy it at Barnes & Noble."

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what the elves might think about Santa outsourcing to Barnes & Noble ... but I controlled myself and did not. 

I don't want to be the one to end a childhood.