She knows

Twice now in the past month Katie has directly asked me, "If Santa Claus was not real, you would tell me, right?"

Both times I took advantage of the usual family chaos to avoid answering her. But the time had come, both Chris and I agreed.

We were nervous about this, partly because Katie is scrupulously truthful and might not understand why we had "lied" to her, partly because learning the truth had been so sad for both of us and we assumed it would be a similar experience for Katie.

So, yesterday, Chris took Katie out to get ice-cream. And he leveled with her about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and yes, even the Tooth Fairy. Katie's reaction, though, defied every one of our expectations. She sighed, and nodded, and said:

"Well, good. It makes me more comfortable to know that there aren't really people who come into our house when I am asleep."

She is not angry, she is not bitter, she is not even sad. No, Katie is relieved. It's a well-worn phrase, but I guess the truth really does set you free, even in the most unexpected of circumstances.