Keeping Santa Alive

Keeping Santa alive can be difficult. It is something that is fun and brings so much joy, but it also can seem a little underhanded when you thinking of the lying we have to do in order to make it happen. It is something I have struggled with myself, but I had such joy in believing in Santa as a kid that I have always wanted my kids to experience that same joy.
The triplets will be 8 before the year is over and still believe. Boy 7 has been questioning it the most though. He has decided on his own that reindeer don't fly so he can't figure out how Santa gets it all done or up on the roof.
The kids sat on Santa's lap this year (although the picture above is from 2005). They also always get Santa a plate of goodies and food for the reindeer. The plate of goodies for Santa has celery with peanut butter for the reindeer. (Picture from 2007)
I still believed in Santa when I was 11 years old and had 2 neighbor kids laughing at me as I defended Santa. I went in to finally have my mom tell me the truth. That was a very upsetting Christmas for me. When I would question Santa, my mom would say, "What do you believe?". I wanted to believe that Santa was real, so I did.
I wanted to make sure I was the one to tell my boys when they were at a proper age, so they wouldn't go through what I did. (It was very traumatizing for me..can you tell?) As a step mom I don't get to make that decision. As Boy 7 and Girlie have questioned me I find myself say, "Well, what do you believe?"