What I would NOT do again....

There is something...I'm sure there are more things...but there is one thing in particular that I wish I had done differently.
Santa.
This has to be the meanest lie of all. Our kids BELIEVE us about things, and we tell them that this THING happens, when it does not. Here is how I would do it, if I could do it over again-
I would never tell them that gifts come from Santa. Every. Single. Child. who has been told this LIE finds the truth one day and feels sad over it. Something dies when they find out it's a lie. There's a better way, I think!
I would never tell them that Santa brings the gifts, but I would share with them the many different versions of Santa's all over the world, and what Santa represents. Then I would share with them the wonderful opportunity we have to be Santa for someone, every day. In all ways and times. We can be Santa. We can make magic for people. We can show generousity to our children and people we love without the Santa lie.
Everyone I have said this to argues that the Santa Lie is so fun, though, for kids to believe in a mythical person brought to life once a year. I don't know. I still remember recognizing Santa's hand writing as my dad's and feeling everything in me deflate just a little bit. Was the 9 years worth it? Maybe it is? It must be, because like a ding bat, I passed it on to my kids. They can know of Santa, they can partake in Santa stuff, they can watch Polar Express a hundred times with me, they can have the Santa magic without the lie, without the let down. I wish I had done it that way instead.