Hi, Jack! Just wondering...

What if certain parents routinely dress up like Santa Claus to hand their kids gifts every year? Then the parents can say, if asked whether Santa really exists or not:

"That's sort of a subjective question, Virginia. You see, there isn't actually a corporeally manifested dude named Santa who defies the laws of physics in many ways as described in the stories and TV specials, or who literally lives in one of the most inhospitable regions of the planet, or who literally squeezes his rotund body down the chimney - which is actually pretty damn creepy when you think about it, and which thousands of burglars and home invaders would be doing if it was really that easy - and who literally never dies yet somehow managed to grow old.

"But... you can think of Santa as 'real' in the sense of being a seasonally specific allegorical guise that Daddy himself puts on to symbolize the holiday, and to hand you your gifts. And have no doubt these gifts were manufactured by normal human wage workers slaving away in factories around the world under the direction of very human bosses who are typically not of good cheer, as opposed to pint-sized hominids of unknown species identification slaving under the directives of some rotund guy who is described as being of good cheer despite the slave labor he maintains.

"These toys were also purchased by Mommy and Daddy at stores like Wal-Mart - with a few from the Dollar Store, I confess - and given to you while wearing this guise.

"Sooooo... you can say Santa really exists, but he's actually me in a real corporeal sense, who puts on the guise just to have fun, represent the spirit of holiday gift-giving, and to hand you your toys. Okay, in one sense, Santa is actually both Daddy and Mommy, because both spent money on your toys, but I'm the one who has to put on the costume due to the gender requirements. However, Mommy could always dress up like Mrs. Claus, of course, just so I'm not the only one who has to put on this uncomfortable costume to participate in the holiday cheer..."

Wouldn't that work in a way that maintained the meaning of the holiday spirit without lying to the kids? :-)