I think we need to take a step back here and think about what we are talking about. From the time a child is young we read them fairy stories, show them pictures of dragons and fairies and it stimulates their imagination and creativity.....Then for some along comes the Easter bunny , the tooth fairy and Santa...Some of the magic from their childhood tales and dreams slips into their lives......they believe until they reach a natural level of maturity that tells them the real world is not like that........

It would be a grim world where we only read fact not fiction, where we showed them no images other than realistic images.......

All my children have come through the fantasy stage, although my youngest is still weighing up Santa...I will tell her if she asks me as I have done with the others......until then we will sprinkle the reindeer food, put out a mince pie and glass of port and wait for the sound of sleigh bells in the night air......

Then on Christmas day we will go to Church to celebrate the birth of Jesus , which is the real meaning of Christmas.

What do you use as reindeer food? At pre-school they gave us something sparkly but I don't know what to put out now. We've only come up with a carrot for Rudolph (and my daughter is already defensive of him because the other reindeer wouldn't let him "join in any reindeer games".:lol).

We sprinkle a mix of bird seed and glitter on the lawn and leave a carrot on the mantlepiece....

Is this still going - Santa will have come and gone by the time you've finished - it's a joke honest please dont shoot me!