I believed in Santa till I figured it out on my own. Also, some older kids were running around the elementary school telling us little ones there was no such thing as Santa. I asked my parents over and over, "C'mon, but seriously, is he real?" and they said "Sure, he's the spirit of Christmas." Eventually I had to abandon that belief, but it wasn't upsetting to me and I never felt anyone had lied to me.

Kids are naturally imaginative, spiritual beings who like to believe in fantastic things (meaning things that are based on fantasy). Our son very much believed in Santa but, as I had done in the previous generation, also wanted to give him a wide berth in places like malls or department stores. I had no desire to sit in the lap of a fat, bearded, red-suited stranger, and neither did he. When he began to doubt, he asked the same thing and we answered the same way my parents had because that's what Santa's about--the spirit of giving at Christmastime. He gradually outgrew his belief but still enjoyed playing along because he wanted to ensure that the gifts kept coming.

If it's handled in the right way, I don't have a problem at all with the concept of Santa. I had fun with it, and so did my son. I'm sure he'll carry on the tradition with his kids. That's part of the fun of having kids--the magic and the imagination.