Clean Santa??

My kids believe in Santa. I have no problem with that - it is fun. And at this time of year, I can hold the whole "Santa knows if you're good or bad and will bring you gifts accordingly, so SHAPE UP!" thing over their heads when they are getting on my nerves. Will I insist that Santa is real if they have doubts? No. As far as I'm concerned, for as long as they want to believe, if Santa is real *to them*, then they can believe for as long as they want. It is all a part of the magic of Christmas. And it is fun to send letters to the North Pole and leave out cookies and milk and carrots and see the amazement on their face on Christmas morning when they discover they have been eaten. Which brings me to the second part of this blog...
Recently, our (former) babysitter, a 6th grade girl who rides Emmalee's bus and comes over on Wednesday afternoons to watch Lily and Micah until Steve gets home from work while I bring Em to dance lessons, told Emmalee and her friend Quinn that Santa (and the tooth fairy) is not real. Em said that Julia told them it is just their parents, and they wait till the kids are asleep and then put all the gifts under the tree. As Emmalee was telling me this, I was thinking combinations of "That little brat!" and "How am I going to keep Em from ruining it for Micah and Lily?"
Then, Emmalee said to me,"But I told Julia she's wrong, Santa IS real."
"Oh?" I said, "And how do you know that?"
Emmalee answered, matter of factly, "Because Santa always leaves cookie crumbs and you would NEVER leave crumbs."

Now I better go sweep...