From the Horse's Mouth

With all the Christmas shows featuring Rudolph and Santa Claus, Brendan decided that he wanted to be a reindeer when he grows up.  His goals were lofty -- he didn't want to be just any old reindeer, he was going to be one of Santa's reindeer (the ones that fly).  I let the reindeer fantasy go on for a while, but, being the realist that I am, I felt duty-bound to tell my child that people did not simply turn into beasts at whim.  I cornered him as he ran around the house, holding his hands up to his head and spreading his fingers to look like antlers.

"Brendan?"

He stopped, antler-hands still in position, "yes, Mommy?"

"Baby boy, you know that people can't turn into reindeer, right?"

Long pause.  "Why not?"

"I don't know why, but they just don't.  People are people and reindeer are reindeer.  You can pretend you're a reindeer, though."

He looked off to the side.  Then, slowly, he unspread his fingers and brought his hands down from his head.  He started to walk away.  Great, now I had crushed the kid's spirit.

When he was halfway across the room, I called out to him again.

"Honey Bunny?"

He trotted back, "yes, Mommy?"

"Are you upset because you can't be a reindeer someday?"

He gave me a toothy grin.  "Not at all, Mommy.  I didn't want to be a reindeer anyway. ... What I really want to be is a horse!"  And he galloped off, neighing as he went.  (Sigh)