We also lied to our son but as he soon learned it was mum and dad as all kids with older brothers in school would tell them.
In Spain, the tradition was to give presents on the Three Kings Day, which is January the 6th. Now Santa is as "strong" as the Three Kings, in a way is better as kids have a few more days to spend with their presents before coming back to school, but it is kind of sad to see how a local tradition is taken away by the consumer world we live in.
We also used to write a letter (the Three Kings did) telling him how we were happy about the good things and what he needed to work to improve during the next year. It was funny to hear he recognized my wife's writing in the letter as he was growing up.
as a kid, I was told that some people believe in it and it isn't my place to tell them the truth - they will find out soon enough.
The Epiphany is a holiday here too, but not a gift giving day. The 13th of Jan is an interesting one as in some small areas, the tradition is to knock on the neighbors door and ask for something to drink :)
this is part of the fun of it for parents perhaps. =)
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.