In these crazy, gadget-obsessed times, even Santa's not immune to the constant flow of information -- and there are more ways to reach out to Father Christmas than ever before. While going to meet with him face to face at the mall can be touch and go (you've seen the Sketchy Santas, right?), and sending him a letter is less reliable than it once was, you can be in instant contact with St. Nick this year -- because Santa has teamed up with AT&T to chat with kids of all ages about their Christmas wish lists.

Parents, are you picking up what I'm putting down? Say, for instance, you want to ask for a Mac Book Pro and a Baby Panda. All you've got to do (AT&T customers) is bust out your cell phone, text "SANTA" to 1224 between now and Christmas Eve and Kringle will reply to your Christmas wishes right away (for no extra cost)!

What he won't do is tell you that you'll shoot your eye out or any bogus nonsense like that. In fact, Text Message Santa will compliment you on your good taste, replying with the following: "You have an excellent wish list this year! We make toys and goodies all through the year so luckily we have a lot of items already in stock. Keep being nice. The holidays are just around the corner, you know. Ho Ho Ho! Sincerely, Santa Claus."

See how nice that is ... and convenient? Plus, you don't have to worry about your kid getting sick with whatever crazy bug all the other kids are coming down with. Think about it, Santa's knee is practically a petri dish for all of the flu viruses in your mall's general area. It's a public health concern that hasn't been lost on Santa, I assure you.

Another nice thing about Texting Santa is that he won't make your kids cry with his sometimes intimidating facial features. Every year, thousands of kids think they want to meet Santa in person and then wind up getting completely freaked out by meeting a supernatural being face-to-face. Frankly, I find it kinda intimidating myself.

Last, but not least, with Text Message Santa, you can skip the whole creepy elves thing. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not a big fan of the elves. You might think they'd be super happy all the time, building toys and taking photos of kids on Santa's knee, but sometimes elves can be rude -- and even threaten violence.

So, there you go. If you have a kid who's at that age, and they're totally mesmerized by cell phones, this is your chance to skip out on mall santa.

What type of mobile device do you think Santa's using these days? For some reason, I can see him on an iPhone or maybe a Google Droid.