The Santa debate

THE SANTA DEBATE......When Zeke was a baby Robert and I toyed around with the idea that we weren't going to include Santa in our Christmas celebration. I felt like I would be lying to him, and that Santa would be getting all the credit for things that we really had to buy. I wanted him to know that his parents bought him the things, and that's how it works!! My parents thought this was a horrible idea. That Santa should be a part of every child's childhood, and that we would be cheating him. So, when he was 3 we still hadn't decided what we were going to do. A couple months before Christmas we found ourselves using Santa as a parenting tool. We'd say, "If you don't pick up your toys, we're going to tell Santa that you haven't been good. And he won't bring you any presents." This worked for a couple weeks, until one day after I had said that he replies, "Santa's not real." I said, "He most certainly is, who told you that?" Apparently Roberts mom had decided for herself that the whole Santa thing wasn't going to happen. So, then I HAD to tell him that Santa was real, and that he needed to be good! So Santa visited our house when he was 3, and when he was 4. This year he's already talking about Santa, and what all he is going to bring him. I said, "Pick out one thing that you really really want, and that's what Santa will bring you." He said "No, Santa will bring me a bunch of things, whatever I want." So, I let that go on for a couple of days and I finally couldn't handle hearing how Santa was going to bring him a 4-wheeler, and a dirt bike, and a guitar, when I knew there was no way we would be getting him anything like that. So finally I blurted out, "There is no Santa, there never has been. Mommy and Daddy buy you all your toys. Remember all the toys you got last year? Daddy bought those for you and we just said they were from Santa." The look on Zeke's face.....How sad!! He doesn't believe me though. He said there is a Santa, and that I'm lying....So Great!! I'm not sure what to do! The Santa saga continues.......