With two older siblings, my youngest never had the whole believing in Santa experience. The year the movie Elf came out, he was still pretty little but loved the film. The next day we were in the mall, where he spied Santa with a row of kids lined up to sit in his lap. Before I could stop him, my son pointed at Santa and blurted (quite loudly), "You are not the real Santa. You are a fake! You smell of beef and cheese!"
I will never forget the looks of horror from parents as they clapped their hands over their kids' ears.
I think we sowed seeds of doubt in quite a few kids that year.
