Bill, 37, blended family, co-parenting 5 children.
I raised my 2 kids without the Santa lie. I stood firm and refused to lie to them about it. They have known from the beginning that Santa isn't real. This wasn't a problem until my second marriage and my new wife brought 3 gorgeous kids with her, who were quite young. In our first year of marriage, we moved closer to the Santa season and the littlest one came down stairs bawling her eyes out one morning because my eldest boy had told her Santa wasn't real.
My wife had raised her kids with the story of Santa and how he gives gifts. She had also told them that only the good kids get the gifts, and as her kids received Santa gifts each year that meant they must have been good.
Now the little one is convinced she is no longer good because Santa isn't coming to give her a gift anymore.
I want to tell her that we are better than Santa, because we will give gifts not just if she is good, but because we love her. She exists and that is enough. We don't need Santa to tell us who deserves a gift and who doesn't.
But my wife is quite against this. She said there will be time enough for her daughter to learn the world is not full of magic, and she wants to shield her as long as she can. This Santa lie is going to create a fantasy, and my wife thinks this is ok as she loves her daughter and doesn't want to see her hurt.
I don't believe that telling the truth will hurt the child at all. Breaking the news can be done in a careful and loving manner, and it is important to me that my step-daughter knows that I don't lie about anything. Not even Santa.