Taylor Mack giggled shyly when Santa Claus asked what she wanted for Christmas this year.

"I really would like a new pair of shoes for my Mom," the 4-year- old Hill District girl told the Downtown Macy's version of Old St. Nick. "Oh, and she really needs lip gloss, too."

For years, Santa could joke with kids at a store or mall who gave him wishes of mundane or practical presents.

The recession, however, has some parents cutting back. And because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many military parents will not be home for the holidays.

Santa now is fielding all sorts of requests -- from the austere to the extreme -- while having to occasionally turn to an even higher power to help out with a wish.

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"We try to have the kids focus on giving more than getting," said Jackie Wright, the teacher at Kelly's Kingdom day-care center who brought Taylor and three classmates to see Santa. "But this year, we didn't have to work that hard. They seemed to understand that Santa was scaling back."

Santa agreed: "The kids are very aware that this is not the year for Santa to overdo it. Most of the boys and girls are either asking for a doll or a truck -- or for (gifts for) their parents."

At South Hills Village in Upper St. Clair, most kids are asking for all the usual toys -- music players, video games and this year's hard-to-get item: hu Zhu Pets. The man in the red suit -- Santas and store managers asked that their real names not be printed -- said he has heard from several children who just want to know a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan will be safe.

"I'm not supposed to say anything," Santa said. "But I say: 'All we can do is pray for them.' "

Twenty-three members of the Air National Guard's 171st Air Refueling Wing in Findlay are deployed overseas this Christmas, and volunteers have been helping families deal with the separation.

Every family received a Giant Eagle gift card, and volunteers offered to help buy presents for the children, said Deb Krall, the unit's family-program coordinator. Families of service members who are home this year delivered gifts and treats to those who are not, including one woman who got her hands on four Zhu Zhu Pets.

The children's wishes, Krall said, have been modest -- toy cars, play ponies and action figures.

"They weren't big things," she said. "Nobody said: 'I would like to have that Wii and all the games.' "

At Ward Home, a Mt. Lebanon-based agency that helps at-risk teenagers, the girls and boys wish for music players and movies, but also clothing, books and bedding, said worker Patti Dungee.

She coordinated an angel-tree program in which members of more than a dozen local churches bought gifts for the residents.

The home considered scaling back requests this year because of the recession, but contributors came forward to answer more Christmas wishes than ever before, Dungee said. Each of the 105 participants was allowed to make three wishes for a small gift, and more than 90 percent of them have been fulfilled.

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"It was a really, really good year for us," she said.

The Salvation Army of Western Pennsylvania has provided toys to more than 12,000 children
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