I figured out that Santa was a fake when I was 6 years old and got sticks and rocks in my stocking. But I didn't want my children to miss out on the fun of Santa just because my mother is warped.

I told them from the beginning that Santa was based on a real person. This real person was genuinely caring man who gave gifts to poor children so that every child would have a gift and that is the idea, the giving spirit, that people want to pass on with "Santa".

Each Winter season we play Santa to a friend in need, a family member or an Angel Tree. We never tell it is us doing the good deed. Then in return we get Santa gifts from each other as a way to say "Thank You" for having the spirit of Santa. And of course we still get stockings. But at 10 and 14, my boys think it's silly but love playing Santa to someone else.

I struggled with this one myself. I don't like telling my daughter something that's not true. The reason I do (she's five) is because I remember what my childhood was like: anticipating the presents Santa would bring on Christmas morning; trying to stay awake so I could see Santa; trying to go to sleep so Santa would come. When I see that excitement in my daughters twinkling eyes, I am glad she doesn't know the truth yet.

When kids get together at school or in the neighborhood, they will quickly learn the truth from kids who don't believe in Santa. They will start to doubt and ask questions. Then it's time for the truth.

When children learn that fairy tales are not real, the magic will be gone. The only time we believe in magic and fairy tales is when we are kids.

Everybody needs some "magic" in their lives and children, with their wonderful openness, have the ability to believe in magic for quite some time longer than jaded adults. I think I like that their minds are open to wondrous possibilities and new solutions - I believe that can be a well-spring for creativity both in their childhood and in their adulthood. I would advocate that you not tell them until they ask, specifically, about the veracity of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy. Allow them the gift of imagination - reality comes far too soon in little lives, anyway.

And when they ask why you allowed them to believe, ask them if believing that there were entities in the world that loved them and wanted them to be happy made them happy. The idea of Santa Claus, that he and the elves and Mrs. Claus all existed for the sole purpose of making children's dreams, even if just in small ways, come true, made me happy as a child. I could not have expressed that as a child, but I know I felt it. And learning that Santa Claus was not "real" made me sad for a while until I realized that the spirit of what he represented was still there.

We have given names and identities to the sort of good will and love, the agape, that even strangers have for our children. It's not that the spirit of these things does not exist, only that the avatars we have assigned, in our reality, do not.

Some people I know cite the moment they discovered Santa wasn't real as the beginning of the end with their families. I think they might've been a bit melodramatic about it, but for some kids it could be a bit traumatizing to realize your parents lied to you for so long. It's one of those pesky 'depends on your situation' type of answers. It's hard to judge how your kids will react in the future, so if you're worried, always go with the truth. Just because a kid knows Santa isn't the one bringing them presents doesn't mean Christmas isn't totally fun and exciting, as I'm sure your aware.

Personally, my father still claims that Santa is real, and I'm 21 years old now. It's become a fun joke around Christmas, and he's never once slipped in his charade that Santa Claus exists. Obviously I figured it out when I was about 5 or 6, but I didn't mind as long as I got presents. I know that he keeps up the lie for a good reason, in spirit of the holidays and all that, so it never bothered me as a child. It's fun to believe in Santa for a while - kids love to share stories about the different ways they discovered the lie, either from sneaking downstairs to see mommy and daddy putting Santa's presents under the tree, or realizing their parents and Santa had awfully similar handwriting.

But in the end, it's entirely up to you. The way people deal with this seems very much like a family tradition in a way. Most people end up emulating their parents. I intend to keep my family tradition going and will never tell my kids that Santa isn't real, even if they're 30 years old. Why not keep your family tradition going as well?

Think about how it made you feel to know the 'truth', both as a child and again as an adult, and then you'll be able to answer that question.

I think that in the end you'll realize that some part of you really wanted to believe...

Let your children believe too.

Young children live in a fantasy world, and I don't see anything wrong with letting them believe in Santa. But children aren't stupid, either, and once they are old and wise enough to ask if he's real, then they should be told the truth! Insisting Santa exists when they suspect otherwise will diminish your trustworthiness in their eyes. Children should be able to depend on their parents for the truth, even when the truth disappoints them.

I always told my children that Santa was real as he was the symbol of Christmas Spirit and as long as they believed in Christmas spirit then Santa was real to them.

This always happened when some child at school decided it was time for my children to not believe in Santa anymore.