Santa...revealed.

Friday morning I went to wake Mariana up for school. Usually she "mm-hmm's" me until I come back again five minutes later, when it's time for her to really get up. This time, however, she immediately launched into the question, "Mom, is Santa Claus real? And I WANT THE TRUTH."

I knew this was coming. She has been pondering this question for weeks now, and I'd been able to evade the question thus far. I had even wrapped a few gifts from Christiaan and me, purposely, so she would know that we give her and Jack presents, and then I was planning on putting out a few more for Christmas morning from Santa. (Disclaimer: we teach our kids the REAL meaning of Christmas - Jesus becoming a human, coming in the form of a baby, a Gift to us, which is why we exchange gifts. We hang stockings and enjoy pretending Santa comes, too. For fun.)

So, back to her question. I didn't want to lie. She had successful phrased the question in a way that pinned me to the wall. I told her I'd be right back. I ran down the hall to Christiaan and was like, "What do I tell her?" He said, "Tell her, 'Santa is fun!'" I told him, "She's not going to buy it. She's been thinking way too hard on this!"

I went back to her room and told her the truth. Santa was real. But not anymore. We have fun pretending he comes. She guessed, "But the presents are really from you and Papa?" I had to admit, "yes." "I KNEW IT!" she exclaimed.

Then we had a nice heart-to-heart where I threatened her that she would not get any of those extra presents if A) She went looking for the presents, or B) She told Jack. I think the threatening worked! :)

Now we have to keep the dream of the toothfairy alive...