Is there really a Santa Clause??

We told our children that there is no Santa Clause. Horrible parents--I know. I'll give you the back story. Several years ago, when Sara was around 3, we tried to live the fantasy. Joe grew up thinking there was a Santa Clause. And even though it was understood in my house that there was not a Santa Clause, in my childhood mind I always wondered if maybe he really was true. So we tried, but then when one lie ("yes, Santa is real!") turned into a web of lies, (how exactly do you answer--"how does he get in our house since we don't have a fireplace") we decided we needed to be honest. So either last year or the year before we broke the truth to them. The problem is that they have short term memories--especially John. So each year we go through parent guilt of telling them again that he is not real. This year the girls remembered. We did tell them not to tell anyone in their classrooms that he is not real. How horrible would that be--a kindergarten and 1st grade classroom either full of tears or fist fights because my girls decide to announce that he is not real. So, they've been really good about that; however, they are very, very concerned because everyone else--including the kindergarten teacher--believe that there really is a Santa Clause. Now John did not remember this year what we had told him last year--and even after we broke the news to him again--I'm not sure he believes us. He's been playing his odds. I think he figures "What do I have to lose if I play along and act like there is a Santa Clause? Now if I don't play along and he really does exist there is a ton I could miss out on!" So he was very insistent that we visit Santa at some point before Christmas eve. We do this every year. So on Monday night we went to see Santa and let me just say that John turned on the personality and was out to impress Santa. He waved from clear across the room and made sure that he was the first one on his lap. And then he chatted him up for quite some time. In the car later, we asked him what he and Santa chatted about. He relayed this:

Santa "What do you want for Christmas this year?"
John "A yellow car"

At this point, we questioned the yellow car--this was a new Christmas item to us. He said that Santa had a basket of toys next to him and there was a yellow car in it. John: "I know he has the yellow car because I saw it. So that is what I asked for."

John continued to relay the conversation that took place:

Santa "Were you a good boy this year?"
John "Well, ummm, ummmm, well, ummmm, ummmm, well, yes!"

I guess there he played the odds that Santa doesn't really exist and wouldn't know if he lied or not.