Should There Be a Santa?

Simone wavers between believing and not believing in Santa.  When she asks me if I believe in him, I say that he might but that I've never seen him.  I try to be delicate about it because I'd like to keep the window of his possible existence open.  If an adult told asked me the same question, I'd give them a "No Way!" right off the bat.  But with my own children, I want them to decide for themselves if Santa is real or not.  Santa never gives them presents, but they do think that Santa drops off the gifts that Mommy and Daddy and relatives have given them.



Ever the pondering soul, Simone devised a way to test if Santa is real or not.  Here was our recent conversation:

(Simone) "Let's makes some cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve and leave them out for him to eat.  If they're gone, we know that Santa is real.  If they're still there, then Santa is not real."
(Me) "But what if cockroaches eat the cookies and you mistakenly believe Santa is real?"
(S) "Then we'll leave a sign out that says, 'These cookies are for Santa and not for cockroaches!'"
(M) "But cockroaches can't read."
(S) "Yes they can!  If they can eat, they can read! Duh!"

I don't get her logic, but I suggested that we put a glass cover over the cookies, so Santa can see them and pick up the cover that will be too heavy for bugs to lift.  This, however, isn't my dilemma.  Should I eat some cookies to keep the magic alive for the kids?  I don't want to because, as an adult, I don't like the whole mythos of Santa anyway!   However, as a child, I DID love the idea of Santa.  When I discovered he isn't real, I still liked to pretend he was real because it meant I got an extra gift from him!  I've thought about just not touching them and leaving the decision up to Michael.  When he gets up in the middle of the night, he munches on food before returning to bed.

Family and friends, what would you do in this case?